PT Unknown
AU Liu, S
   Liu, J
   Young, CJ
   Werner, JM
   Wu, Y
   Li, Z
   Dahal, D
   Oeding, J
   Schmidt, GL
   Sohl, TL
   Hawbaker, T
   Sleeter, B
TI Baseline carbon storage, carbon sequestration, and greenhouse-gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems of the western United States
BT U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper
PY 2012
IS 1797
LA FY 2013
DE agricultural land; biomass; California; carbon; carbon flux; carbon sequestration; carbon storage; coast; desert; ecoregion; ecosystem; flux; forest; greenhouse gas; greenhouse gas fluxes; land; organic carbon; Professional Papers; Reports; sequestration; sink; SOC; soil; soil organic carbon; storage; terrestrial ecosystem; U.S.Geological Survey Series; United States; vegetation; western United States
AB Highlights: From 2001 to 2005 in the Western United States, the average annual total carbon stored in vegetation and soils (up to 20 cm in depth) was estimated to be 13,920 TgC, ranging from 12,418 to 15,461 TgC. The Western Cordillera ecoregion stored the most carbon (59 percent of the total), followed by the Cold Deserts (19 percent), Marine West Coast Forest (11 percent), Mediterranean California (6 percent), and Warm Deserts (5 percent) ecoregions. Forests, grasslands/shrublands, and agricultural lands stored 69 percent, 25 percent, and 4.3 percent of the total carbon in ecosystems of the Western United States, respectively. Live biomass, soil organic carbon (SOC) in the top 20 cm of the soil layer, and dead biomass (forest litter and dead woody debris) accounted for 38 percent, 39 percent, and 23 percent, respectively, of the total carbon stored in the Western United States. The average annual net carbon flux in the terrestrial ecosystems of the Western United States was estimated to be -86.5 TgC/yr, ranging from -162.9 to -13.6 TgC/yr from 2001 to 2005. (Negative values denote a carbon sink.) Forests were the largest carbon sink (62 percent of the average), followed by grasslands/shrublands (30 percent), and agricultural lands (7 percent). From 2001 to 2005 in the Western United States, the average annual total carbon stored in vegetation and soils (up to 20 cm in depth) was estimated to be 13,920 TgC, ranging from 12,418 to 15,461 TgC. The Western Cordillera ecoregion stored the most carbon (59 percent of the total), followed by the Cold Deserts (19 percent), Marine West Coast Forest (11 percent), Mediterranean California (6 percent), and Warm Deserts (5 percent) ecoregions. Forests, grasslands/shrublands, and agricultural lands stored 69 percent, 25 percent, and 4.3 percent of the total carbon in ecosystems of the Western United States, respectively. Live biomass, soil organic carbon (SOC) in the top 20 cm of the soil layer, and dead biomass (forest litter and dead woody debris) accounted for 38 percent, 39 percent, and 23 percent, respectively, of the total carbon stored in the Western United States. The average annual net carbon flux in the terrestrial ecosystems of the Western United States was estimated to be -86.5 TgC/yr, ranging from -162.9 to -13.6 TgC/yr from 2001 to 2005. (Negative values denote a carbon sink.) Forests were the largest carbon sink (62 percent of the average), followed by grasslands/shrublands (30 percent), and agricultural lands (7 percent).
ER