Carbon Dynamics and Sequestration in Forest Ecosystems

Forest ecosystems govern a substantial portion of the terrestrial carbon cycle through the uptake, storage and release of carbon. Photosynthetic fixation of atmospheric carbon dioxide underpins net primary productivity, depositing carbon into leaves, stems and roots. Redistribution occurs via litterfall, wood decay and soil respiration, returning carbon to the atmosphere. Disturbances such as logging, fire and insect outbreaks accelerate carbon losses, whereas natural regeneration, afforestation and sustainable management enhance long-term storage. Carbon pools in living biomass, dead organic matter and soil interact dynamically, with turnover rates influenced by climate, nutrient availability and species composition. Monitoring advances in remote sensing, ground inventories and data integration have refined estimates of carbon stocks and fluxes, yet uncertainties persist at regional scales owing to methodological variability and incomplete field data. Effective conservation of intact forests, implementation of reforestation and adoption of climate-smart forestry practices are critical to bolster carbon sequestration, mitigate climate change and sustain ecosystem services globally.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies employing high‐resolution lidar data from spaceborne missions have quantified the enhanced carbon stocks within formally protected forest areas, revealing that conservation status can contribute an additional near‐term carbon sink equivalent to a significant fraction of annual global fossil fuel emissions. Elsewhere, critical evaluation of large‐scale biomass mapping models has exposed the overestimation of predictive power when spatial autocorrelation is ignored. By comparing standard and spatially explicit validation techniques, researchers have demonstrated that many existing maps lack robust predictive capacity, underlining the need for rigorous spatial validation frameworks to improve biomass estimation and inform reliable carbon accounting.

Carbon Dynamics and Sequestration in Forest Ecosystems publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in carbon dynamics and sequestration in forest ecosystems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Aboveground biomass: The mass of living vegetation (stems, branches and leaves) per unit area, a key carbon pool.

Belowground biomass: The mass of roots and associated soil organisms per unit area, contributing to long-term carbon storage.

Carbon sequestration: The process by which carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere and stored in vegetation, soils or geological formations.

LiDAR: Light detection and ranging; a remote sensing technology that measures distance and structure using pulsed laser light, widely used to estimate forest biomass.

Spatial autocorrelation: The tendency for measurements close in space to be more similar than those further apart, requiring special validation methods in mapping models.

References

1. The effectiveness of global protected areas for climate change mitigation. Nature Communications (2023).
2. Spatial validation reveals poor predictive performance of large-scale ecological mapping models. Nature Communications (2020).
3. Incorporating site suitability and carbon sequestration of tree species into China’s climate-adaptive forestation. Science Bulletin (2025).
4. Carbon emissions from land use and land-cover change. Biogeosciences (2012).
5. Harmonized global maps of above and belowground biomass carbon density in the year 2010. Scientific Data (2020).