Science Highlight
Climate extremes and the carbon cycle
Markus Reichstein, Michael Bahn, Philippe Ciais, Dorothea Frank, Miguel D. Mahecha, Sonia I. Seneviratne, Jakob Zscheischler, Christian Beer, Nina Buchmann, David C. Frank, Dario Papale, Anja Rammig, Pete Smith, Kirsten Thonicke, Marijn van der Velde, Sara Vicca, ArianeWalz & Martin Wattenbach.
Nature, published online: 14 August 2013
Volume: 500 Pages: 287–295
Date published: 15 August 2013
doi:10.1038/nature12350
Paper Abstract
The terrestrial biosphere is a key component of the global carbon cycle and its carbon balance is strongly influenced by climate.
Continuing environmental changes are thought to increase global terrestrial carbon uptake.
But evidence is mounting that climate extremes such as droughts or storms can lead to a decrease in regional ecosystem carbon stocks and therefore have the potential to negate an expected increase in terrestrial carbon uptake.
Here we explore the mechanisms and impacts of climate extremes on the terrestrial carbon cycle, and propose a pathway to improve our understanding of present and future impacts of climate extremes on the terrestrial carbon budget.
Manuscript
- Download paper: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v500/n7462/full/nature12350.html
- Contact lead author: Markus Reichstein
