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Vegetation Restoration and Its Effects on Carbon Balance in Guangdong Province, China
Author(s) -
Peng ShaoLin,
Hou YuPing,
Chen BaoMing
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
restoration ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.214
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1526-100X
pISSN - 1061-2971
DOI - 10.1111/j.1526-100x.2008.00399.x
Subject(s) - carbon sequestration , environmental science , vegetation (pathology) , forestry , china , carbon fibers , soil water , agroforestry , forest restoration , forest management , geography , carbon dioxide , forest ecology , ecology , ecosystem , soil science , biology , mathematics , medicine , archaeology , pathology , algorithm , composite number
The significance of the regional carbon (C) balance of vegetation restoration to global change was studied in Guangdong Province, one of the most populated provinces in China. The percentage of the province in forestland cover increased steadily from 26.23% in 1979 to 50.11% in 1998 owing to restoration of forests. During this period, the area increase in the conifer forest was 424.83 × 10 4 ha, whereas the area in broad‐leaved, mixed, and other forests increased by 68.82 × 10 4 , 18.94 × 10 4 , and 60.46 × 10 4 ha, respectively. C sequestration by forest soils from 1979 to 1998 was 389.36 Mt, equivalent to 1.43 Pg fixed carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). The total annual CO 2 sequestration by forests and the soils was 118.05 Mt, which was about half of the annual CO 2 emission in Guangdong. The role of forest management and restoration in improving the carbon balance is discussed.