Regional Sustainability ›› 2026, Vol. 7 ›› Issue (4): 100374.doi: 10.1016/j.regsus.2026.100374

• Research article • Previous Articles    

Spatiotemporal pattern of terrestrial ecosystem carbon storage in China with projections under multiple climate scenarios

LIU Minga, ZHANG Haoa, KONG Zhihaoa, ZHENG Yuxina, ZHOU Gaoxiangb,*(), WANG Xiaofenga, REN Zhaoxiaa, Jonathan LIa,c   

  1. aSchool of Land Engineering, Chang’an University, Xi’an, 710064, China
    bCollege of Soil and Water Conservation Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, China
    cDepartment of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada
  • Received:2025-09-26 Revised:2026-04-15 Accepted:2026-07-19 Published:2026-08-30 Online:2026-08-05
  • Contact: *E-mail address: zhougx@nwafu.edu.cn (ZHOU Gaoxiang).

Abstract:

Accurate accounting of terrestrial ecosystem carbon storage is essential for understanding how production, decay, and disturbance shape ecological function and resilience. However, few China-wide datasets explicitly resolve spatial heterogeneity in carbon density within terrestrial ecosystem types, resulting in systematic and location-dependent uncertainty. This study produced a 1-km-resolution, annually continuous carbon-storage dataset for China’s terrestrial ecosystems from 2001 to 2020 using an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) framework, and projected the total terrestrial ecosystem carbon storage in 2030 under five Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP)-Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) scenarios (SSP1-RCP2.6, SSP2-RCP4.5, SSP3-RCP7.0, SSP4-RCP3.4, and SSP5-RCP8.5). Multi-source remote sensing, land cover, biomass, and soil data were combined to estimate carbon storage in the four carbon pools (aboveground biomass carbon, belowground biomass carbon, soil organic carbon, and dead organic matter carbon) and across six land-use types (cropland, forestland, grassland, water body, built-up land, and unused land). Validation against national-scale estimates and outputs from the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) model showed reasonable consistency in magnitude and spatial pattern, although systematic positive biases were observed in the InVEST-based estimates. The total terrestrial ecosystem carbon storage increased from 78.42 Pg C in 2001 to 89.62‍ Pg‍ C in 2011, then declined to 85.49 Pg C in 2020. Soil organic carbon was the dominant pool (53.8% of the total), while forestland and grassland together contributed 69.2% of the total terrestrial ecosystem carbon storage. Under the SSP-RCP scenarios, China’s total terrestrial ecosystem carbon storage in 2030 was projected lowest under SSP1-RCP2.6 at 90.63 Pg C and highest under SSP2-RCP4.5 at 92.62 Pg C. These findings underscore the influence of policy and land-use changes under low- and medium-emission pathways, while extremely high-emission scenarios may show localized gains from ecological restoration. The dataset produced in this study provides a robust basis for carbon accounting, land-use policy, and ecosystem monitoring in China.

Key words: Terrestrial ecosystem carbon storage, Soil organic carbon storage, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) framework, Land-use change, Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP), Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP), China