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Biomass of termites and their emissions of methane and carbon dioxide: A global database
Author(s) -
Sanderson M. G.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
global biogeochemical cycles
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.512
H-Index - 187
eISSN - 1944-9224
pISSN - 0886-6236
DOI - 10.1029/96gb01893
Subject(s) - carbon dioxide , methane , environmental science , biomass (ecology) , ecosystem , greenhouse gas , carbon fibers , carbon cycle , atmosphere (unit) , environmental chemistry , atmospheric sciences , carbon dioxide in earth's atmosphere , biomass burning , database , chemistry , ecology , meteorology , geology , aerosol , materials science , geography , biology , computer science , composite material , organic chemistry , composite number
A global database describing the geographical distribution of the biomass of termites and their emissions of methane and carbon dioxide has been constructed. Termite biomasses were assigned to various ecosystems using published measurements and a recent high‐resolution (10′ × 10′) database of vegetation categories. The assigned biomasses were then combined with literature measurements of fluxes of methane and carbon dioxide from termites and extrapolated to give global emission estimates for each gas. The global emissions of methane and carbon dioxide are 19.7 ± 1.5 and 3500 ± 700 Mt yr −1 , respectively (1 Mt = 1012 g). These emissions contribute approximately 4% and 2%, respectively, to the total global fluxes of these gases. This database gives an accurate distribution of the biomasses and gaseous emissions by termites and may be incorporated into global models of the atmosphere.