Terrestrial carbon sinks – uncertain

Biologist (2002) 49 (4)155 carbon is the basis of life on Earth. It is incorporated intoplants through photosynthesis, absorbed by animals throughtheir food, present in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide,locked into rock as limestone, and pressed into fossil fuelssuch as coal and oil. In the Jurassic age, there was muchmore carbon in the atmosphere than there is now. The carbontaken up by plants on land and in the sea gradually, overmillennia, exceeded the amount released during decay, andthis excess carbon became locked away as fossil fuelsbeneath the surface of the planet. In effect, life on Earth wasacting as a carbon sink . For the last two centuries, this trendhas been drastically reversed as forests have been reducedand fossil fuels have been burnt, meaning that more carbonhas been released into the atmosphere than has beenabsorbed. There is considerable concern that this is leadingdirectly to global warming.

terrestrial carbon sinks are also important. The greatest terrestrial carbon sinks occur in young, growing forests, ... can also be used to distinguish terrestrial vs. oceanic carbon ... either plants or soils. Annual plants and most crops do not accumulate carbon for more than a year. Furthermore, the

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  Plants, Carbon, Terrestrial, Terrestrial vs, Terrestrial carbon

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