Geography

Terrestrial gross carbon dioxide uptake: Global distribution and covariation with climate

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Terrestrial gross primary production (GPP) is the largest global CO 2 flux driving several ecosystem functions. We provide an observation-based estimate of this flux at 123 ± 8 petagrams of carbon per year (Pg C year-1) using eddy covariance flux data and various diagnostic models. Tropical forests and savannahs account for 60%. GPP over 40% of the vegetated land is associated with precipitation. State-of-the-art process-oriented biosphere models used for climate predictions exhibit a large between-model variation of GPP's latitudinal patterns and show higher spatial correlations between GPP and precipitation, suggesting the existence of missing processes or feedback mechanisms which attenuate the vegetation response to climate. Our estimates of spatially distributed GPP and its covariation with climate can help improve coupled climate-carbon cycle process models.

Publication Title

Science

Publication Date

8-13-2010

Volume

329

Issue

5993

First Page

834

Last Page

838

ISSN

0036-8075

DOI

10.1126/science.1184984

Keywords

measurement, climate, terrestrial ecosystems, atmospheric carbon dioxide

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