Changes In Holocene Terrestrial Carbon Storage Over China

Estimating carbon storage of terrestrial ecosystem and understanding its spatial distribution and temporal evolution is the key to the carbon cycle study. Based on vegetation maps previously reconstructed using pollen data and the modern carbon density data, the author analyzes the changes of terrestrial carbon storage in the Holocene period in China.The objectives of present work are: a) To estimate the terrestrial carbon storages in China by two approaches (including soil taxonomy and vegetation types) and analyze the evolution of the terrestrial carbon storages. The work also compares the changes of the storages with those obtained by other researchers. b) To analyze the potential relationships between the changes of the terrestrial carbon storages in China and the anomalous increase of the atmospheric CO2 since 8.2 ka B.P. The main research conclusions are as following:The terrestrial carbon storage in China generally increases from 10kaB.P.to 6kaB.P, from 106.27Pg to 75.91Pg, and 6kaB.P.witnessed maximum carbon storage in the country. Since then, the terrestrial carbon storage has decreased. The most rapid drop occurred during the last 2ka. This change could be dominantly attributed to the human activities in the mid to late Holocene.