The European land and inland water CO2, CO, CH4 and N2O balance between 2001 and 2005

• Published in: Biogeosciences
• Main Authors: Luyssaert, S., Abril, G., Andres, R., Bastviken, D., Bellassen, V., Bergamaschi, P., Bousquet, P., Chevallier, F., Ciais, P., Corazza, M., Dechow, R., Erb, K.H., Etiope, G., Fortems-Cheiney, A., Grassi, G., Hartmann, J., Jung, M., Lathiere, J., Lohila, A., Mayorga, E., Moosdorf, N., Njakou, D. S., Otto, J., Papale, D., Peters, W., Peylin, P., Raymond, P., Roedenbeck, C., Saarnio, S., Schulze, E.D., Szopa, S., Thompson, R., Verkerk, P. J., Vuichard, N., Wang, R., Wattenbach, M., Zaehle, S.
• Other Authors: Luyssaert, S (reprint author), CEA CNRS UVSQ, LSCE, UMR8212, F-91191 Gif Sur Yvette, France., CEA CNRS UVSQ, LSCE, UMR8212, F-91191 Gif Sur Yvette, France., Univ Bordeaux, CNRS, Lab EPOC, UMR5805, Bordeaux, France., Oak Ridge Natl Lab, Div Environm Sci, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 USA., Linkoping Univ, Dept Themat Studies Water & Environm Studies, S-58662 Linkoping, Sweden., European Commiss, Joint Res Ctr, Inst Environm & Sustainabil, I-21027 Ispra, VA, Italy., Johann Heinrich von Thunen Inst, Inst Agr Climate Res, D-38116 Braunschweig, Germany., Alpen Adria Univ Klagenfurt Vienna Graz, Inst Social Ecol Vienna SEC, A-1070 Vienna, Austria., Ist Nazl Geofis Vulcanol, Sez Roma 2, Rome, Italy., Univ Hamburg, Inst Biogeochem & Marine Chem, D-20146 Hamburg, Germany., Max Planck Inst Biogeochem, D-07701 Jena, Germany., Finnish Meteorol Inst, FIN-00101 Helsinki, Finland., Univ Washington, Appl Phys Lab, Seattle, WA 98105 USA., Univ Antwerp, Res Grp Plant & Vegetat Ecol, B-2610 Antwerp, Belgium., Univ Tuscia, Dept Innovat Biolagro Food & Forest Syst DIBAF, I-52425 Viterbo, Italy., Wageningen Univ, NL-6700 PB Wageningen, Netherlands., Yale Univ, Sch Forestry & Environm Studies, New Haven, CT 06511 USA., Max Planck Inst Biogeochem, Biogeochem Syst Dept, D-07701 Jena, Germany., Univ Eastern Finland, Dept Biol, Joensuu 80101, Finland., Univ Eastern Finland, Finnish Environm Inst, Joensuu Off, Joensuu 80101, Finland., European Forest Inst, Sustainabil & Climate Change Programme, Joensuu 80100, Finland., Peking Univ, Lab Earth Surface Proc, Coll Urban & Environm Sci, Beijing 100871, Peoples R China., Deutsch GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ, Helmholtz Ctr Potsdam, GFZ German Res Ctr Geosci, D-14473 Potsdam, Germany.
• Format: Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: biogeosciences 2012
• Subjects: NORTH-ATLANTIC OSCILLATION; NET ECOSYSTEM EXCHANGE; ORGANIC-CARBON CHANGES; ATMOSPHERIC CO2; CLIMATE-CHANGE; NITROUS-OXIDE; TERRESTRIAL BIOSPHERE; DIOXIDE; FLUXES; EMISSIONS; North Atlantic; North Atlantic oscillation
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11897/393884; https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-3357-2012

Globally, terrestrial ecosystems have absorbed about 30% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions over the period 2000-2007 and inter-hemispheric gradients indicate that a significant fraction of terrestrial carbon sequestration must be north of the Equator. We present a compilation of the CO2, CO, CH4 and N2O balances of Europe following a dual constraint approach in which (1) a land-based balance derived mainly from ecosystem carbon inventories and (2) a land-based balance derived from flux measurements are compared to (3) the atmospheric data-based balance derived from inversions constrained by measurements of atmospheric GHG (greenhouse gas) concentrations. Good agreement between the GHG balances based on fluxes (1294 +/- 545 Tg C in CO2-eq yr(-1)), inventories (1299 +/- 200 Tg C in CO2-eq yr(-1)) and inversions (1210 +/- 405 Tg C in CO2-eq yr(-1)) increases our confidence that the processes underlying the European GHG budget are well understood and reasonably sampled. However, the uncertainty remains large and largely lacks formal estimates. Given that European net land to atmosphere exchanges are determined by a few dominant fluxes, the uncertainty of these key components needs to be formally estimated before efforts could be made to reduce the overall uncertainty. The net land-to-atmosphere flux is a net source for CO2, CO, CH4 and N2O, because the anthropogenic emissions by far exceed the biogenic sink strength. The dual-constraint approach confirmed that the European biogenic sink removes as much as 205 +/- 72 Tg C yr(-1) from fossil fuel burning from the atmosphere. However, This C is being sequestered in both terrestrial and inland aquatic ecosystems. If the C-cost for ecosystem management is taken into account, the net uptake of ecosystems is estimated to decrease by 45% but still indicates substantial C-sequestration. However, when the balance is extended from CO2 towards the main GHGs, C-uptake by terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems is offset by emissions of non-CO2 GHGs. As such, the European ecosystems are unlikely to contribute to mitigating the effects of climate change. Ecology Geosciences, Multidisciplinary SCI(E) 0 ARTICLE 8 3357-3380 9