The carbon cycle in Mexico: past, present and future of C stocks and fluxes
We modeled the carbon (C) cycle in Mexico with a process-based approach. We used different available products (satellite data, field measurements, models and flux towers) to estimate C stocks and fluxes in the country at three different time frames: present (defined as the period 2000–2005), the pas...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2016-01-01
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Series: | Biogeosciences |
Online Access: | http://www.biogeosciences.net/13/223/2016/bg-13-223-2016.pdf |
Summary: | We modeled the carbon (C) cycle in Mexico with a process-based approach. We
used different available products (satellite data, field measurements,
models and flux towers) to estimate C stocks and fluxes in the country at
three different time frames: present (defined as the period 2000–2005), the
past century (1901–2000) and the remainder of this century (2010–2100). Our
estimate of the gross primary productivity (GPP) for the country was 2137 ± 1023 TgC yr<sup>−1</sup> and a total C stock of 34 506 ± 7483 TgC,
with 20 347 ± 4622 TgC in vegetation and 14 159 ± 3861 in the
soil.</p><p class="p">Contrary to other current estimates for recent decades, our results showed
that Mexico was a C sink over the period 1990–2009 (+31 TgC yr<sup>−1</sup>) and
that C accumulation over the last century amounted to 1210 ± 1040 TgC.
We attributed this sink to the CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization effect on GPP, which
led to an increase of 3408 ± 1060 TgC, while both climate and land use
reduced the country C stocks by −458 ± 1001 and −1740 ± 878 TgC,
respectively. Under different future scenarios, the C sink will likely
continue over the 21st century, with decreasing C uptake as the climate
forcing becomes more extreme. Our work provides valuable insights on
relevant driving processes of the C cycle such as the role of drought in
drylands (e.g., grasslands and shrublands) and the impact of climate change
on the mean residence time of soil C in tropical ecosystems. |
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ISSN: | 1726-4170 1726-4189 |