In search of the missing carbon sink: a model of terrestrial biospheric response to land-use change and atmospheric CO2

Abstract

Estimates of the net exchange of carbon between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere may be too large because the models of carbon release from changes in land use do not allow for enhanced carbon assimilation by the terrestrial biosphere in response to increasing atmospheric CO2. We address this deficiency with a model of terrestrial biosphere that includes both ecosystem response to land-use perturbation and vegetation response to atmospheric CO2. Model inputs specify the areas affected by land-use change since 1700. The carbon dynamics of the affected areas are described by an area distribution function for vegetation carbon density and a compartment model of carbon in vegetation, litter, and soil. Vegetation growth is modeled as the difference between net primary production (NPP) and mortality. -from Authors