Carbon budget of different forests in China estimated by an individual-based model and remote sensing

Forests play a key role in the regional or global carbon cycle. Determining the forest carbon budget is of great significance for estimating regional carbon budgets and formulating forest management policies to cope with climate change. However, the carbon budget of Chinese different forests and their relative contributions are not completely clear so far. We evaluated the carbon budget of different forests from 1981 to 2020 in China through combining model with remote sensing observation. In addition, we also determined the relative contribution of carbon budget of each forest type to all forests in China. Eight forest types were studied: evergreen coniferous forest (ECF), deciduous coniferous forest (DCF), coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest (CBF), deciduous broad-leaved forest (DBF), evergreen broad-leaved forest (EBF), evergreen deciduous broad-leaved mixed forest (EDBF), seasonal rain forest (SRF), and rain forest (RF). The results indicated that the Chinese forests were mainly carbon sink from 1981 to 2020, particularly the annual average carbon budget of forest from 2011 to 2020 was 0.191 PgC·a(-1). Spatially, the forests’ carbon budget demonstrated obvious regional differences, gradually decreasing from Southeast China to Northwest China. The relative contributions of carbon budget in different forests to all forests in China were different. During 2011–2020, the ECF forests contributed the most carbon budget (34.45%), followed by DBF forests (25.89%), EBF forests (24.82%), EDBF forests (13.10%), RF forests (2.23%), SRF forests (3.14%) and CBF forests (1.14%). However, the DCF forests were found mainly as carbon source. These results contribute to our understanding of regional carbon budget of forests.