Estimating carbon budgets for U.S. ecosystems

Abstract

On a global basis, plants and soils may hold more than twice the amount of carbon present in the atmosphere [ Geider et al. , 2001]. Under increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentrations and subsequently warming temperatures, these large biogenic pools may change in size [ Cox et al. , 2000]. Due to a lack of long‐term field studies, there is uncertainty as to whether vegetation and soils will act as a net sink or a source of atmospheric CO 2 in coming years. It is certain, however, that no retrospective analysis of the U.S. carbon balance will be possible without a comprehensive historical baseline of the sizes of various ecosystem carbon pools and the variability in their net annual increments.