Characteristics of carbon sources and sinks and their relationships with climate factors during the desertification reversal process in Yulin, China

Research on carbon sources/sinks in desert ecosystems is of great importance to understand the carbon cycle and its response to climate change. Net primary productivity (NPP) and net ecosystem productivity (NEP) are the two most important indictors for quantitatively evaluating carbon storage and ca...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xiao Feng, Qingbin Fan, Jianjun Qu, Xinhui Ding, Ziru Niu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-11-01
Series:Frontiers in Forests and Global Change
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2023.1288449/full
_version_ 1797628957875503104
author Xiao Feng
Qingbin Fan
Jianjun Qu
Xinhui Ding
Ziru Niu
author_facet Xiao Feng
Qingbin Fan
Jianjun Qu
Xinhui Ding
Ziru Niu
author_sort Xiao Feng
collection DOAJ
description Research on carbon sources/sinks in desert ecosystems is of great importance to understand the carbon cycle and its response to climate change. Net primary productivity (NPP) and net ecosystem productivity (NEP) are the two most important indictors for quantitatively evaluating carbon storage and can be used to indicate the response of terrestrial ecosystems to climate change. In this study, we used remote sensing data, meteorological data and vegetation type data to estimate the NPP and NEP using CASA model and soil respiration model from 2000 to 2020 in the region of Yulin, which is a typical desertification reversal region in the Mu Us Sandy Land. The spatial and temporal features of the NPP and NEP and their relationships with temperature and precipitation were determined. The results showed that both the annual NPP and NEP showed an increasing trend from 2000 to 2020 in the region of Yulin, where the terrestrial ecosystem acted as a carbon source until 2001 but turned into a sink thereafter. The carbon storage showed an increasing trend with a rate of 0.50 Tg C·a−1 from 2000 to 2020. Both the mean annual NPP and the total NEP increased from the west to the east of the region in spatial distribution. The total NEP indicated that the area with a carbon sink accounted for 89.22% of the total area, showing a carbon accumulation of 103.0 Tg C, and the carbon source area accounted for 10.78% of the total area with a carbon emission of 4.40 Tg C. The net carbon sequestration was 99.44 Tg C in the region of Yulin during the period from 2000 to 2020. Temperature had no significant effects on NPP and NEP for most areas of the region, while precipitation had a positive effect on the increasing NPP in 75.3% of areas and NEP in 30.07% of areas of the region. These results indicated that it is of utmost significance to protect terrestrial ecosystems from degradation, and ecological restoration projects are essential in combating desertification, which would be helpful for soil water conservation and could effectively increase carbon storage in desert ecosystems.
first_indexed 2024-03-11T10:46:34Z
format Article
id doaj.art-fcb6ed7c9815471cbedf1bc279573590
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2624-893X
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-11T10:46:34Z
publishDate 2023-11-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Forests and Global Change
spelling doaj.art-fcb6ed7c9815471cbedf1bc2795735902023-11-14T05:01:46ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Forests and Global Change2624-893X2023-11-01610.3389/ffgc.2023.12884491288449Characteristics of carbon sources and sinks and their relationships with climate factors during the desertification reversal process in Yulin, ChinaXiao Feng0Qingbin Fan1Jianjun Qu2Xinhui Ding3Ziru Niu4College of Geography and Environment, Xianyang Normal University, Xianyang, ChinaSchool of Geographic Science and Tourism, Nanyang Normal University, Nanyang, ChinaCollege of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an, ChinaCollege of Geography and Environment, Xianyang Normal University, Xianyang, ChinaKey Laboratory of Degraded and Unused Land Consolidation Engineering, Ministry of Natural Resources, Shaanxi Provincial Land Engineering Construction Group, Xi’an, ChinaResearch on carbon sources/sinks in desert ecosystems is of great importance to understand the carbon cycle and its response to climate change. Net primary productivity (NPP) and net ecosystem productivity (NEP) are the two most important indictors for quantitatively evaluating carbon storage and can be used to indicate the response of terrestrial ecosystems to climate change. In this study, we used remote sensing data, meteorological data and vegetation type data to estimate the NPP and NEP using CASA model and soil respiration model from 2000 to 2020 in the region of Yulin, which is a typical desertification reversal region in the Mu Us Sandy Land. The spatial and temporal features of the NPP and NEP and their relationships with temperature and precipitation were determined. The results showed that both the annual NPP and NEP showed an increasing trend from 2000 to 2020 in the region of Yulin, where the terrestrial ecosystem acted as a carbon source until 2001 but turned into a sink thereafter. The carbon storage showed an increasing trend with a rate of 0.50 Tg C·a−1 from 2000 to 2020. Both the mean annual NPP and the total NEP increased from the west to the east of the region in spatial distribution. The total NEP indicated that the area with a carbon sink accounted for 89.22% of the total area, showing a carbon accumulation of 103.0 Tg C, and the carbon source area accounted for 10.78% of the total area with a carbon emission of 4.40 Tg C. The net carbon sequestration was 99.44 Tg C in the region of Yulin during the period from 2000 to 2020. Temperature had no significant effects on NPP and NEP for most areas of the region, while precipitation had a positive effect on the increasing NPP in 75.3% of areas and NEP in 30.07% of areas of the region. These results indicated that it is of utmost significance to protect terrestrial ecosystems from degradation, and ecological restoration projects are essential in combating desertification, which would be helpful for soil water conservation and could effectively increase carbon storage in desert ecosystems.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2023.1288449/fullcarbon sources/sinksclimate changedesertification reversalecological restorationCASA
spellingShingle Xiao Feng
Qingbin Fan
Jianjun Qu
Xinhui Ding
Ziru Niu
Characteristics of carbon sources and sinks and their relationships with climate factors during the desertification reversal process in Yulin, China
Frontiers in Forests and Global Change
carbon sources/sinks
climate change
desertification reversal
ecological restoration
CASA
title Characteristics of carbon sources and sinks and their relationships with climate factors during the desertification reversal process in Yulin, China
title_full Characteristics of carbon sources and sinks and their relationships with climate factors during the desertification reversal process in Yulin, China
title_fullStr Characteristics of carbon sources and sinks and their relationships with climate factors during the desertification reversal process in Yulin, China
title_full_unstemmed Characteristics of carbon sources and sinks and their relationships with climate factors during the desertification reversal process in Yulin, China
title_short Characteristics of carbon sources and sinks and their relationships with climate factors during the desertification reversal process in Yulin, China
title_sort characteristics of carbon sources and sinks and their relationships with climate factors during the desertification reversal process in yulin china
topic carbon sources/sinks
climate change
desertification reversal
ecological restoration
CASA
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2023.1288449/full
work_keys_str_mv AT xiaofeng characteristicsofcarbonsourcesandsinksandtheirrelationshipswithclimatefactorsduringthedesertificationreversalprocessinyulinchina
AT qingbinfan characteristicsofcarbonsourcesandsinksandtheirrelationshipswithclimatefactorsduringthedesertificationreversalprocessinyulinchina
AT jianjunqu characteristicsofcarbonsourcesandsinksandtheirrelationshipswithclimatefactorsduringthedesertificationreversalprocessinyulinchina
AT xinhuiding characteristicsofcarbonsourcesandsinksandtheirrelationshipswithclimatefactorsduringthedesertificationreversalprocessinyulinchina
AT ziruniu characteristicsofcarbonsourcesandsinksandtheirrelationshipswithclimatefactorsduringthedesertificationreversalprocessinyulinchina