Land Use Change and the Terrestrial

1
Land Use Change and the Terrestrial Carbon Cycle
in Asia
APN Project 200002 Project Leader Josep
Canadell pep.canadell_at_gcte.org Project Website
http//gcte.org/Kobe-Meeting-Index.htm
Introduction Annual emissions of carbon dioxide
from land use change and forestry are about 25
of the total global carbon emissions. However,
Non-Annex- 1 countries under the Kyoto Protocol,
and particularly tropical countries, account for
the largest fluxes due to land use change (e.g.,
SE Asia alone accounts for about 50 of the
global carbon emissions from land use change).
Therefore, it is fundamental to understand the
impacts and causes of land use change on
terrestrial biogeochemistry and particularly
carbon as a greenhouse gas and as an emerging new
commodity.
30-35 loss of soil organic carbon from 20 cm
level was observed in grasslands of Mongolia and
Inner Mongolia due to overgrazing Commissioned
Study 2 Photo Drylands, Courtesy of Ryutaro
Tateishi, CEReS Chiba University, Japan
Conversion of natural forets to tree plantations
and perennial crops reduce carbon density by at
least 50 compared to native forests
Commissioned study1

• Land Use Typologies for Biogeo-
• Chemical Studies
• Agricultural systems
• Crop
• Animal residue management
• Harvest practice
• Annuals or perennial
• Tillage (plough or no)
• Fire management
• Grazing management (type of animalsgrazers
• browsers, seasonally, year-round, outside
• amendments)
•  
• Forests
• Logging style (clearcut vs. selective harvest)
• Reforestation (timing, species)
• Revegetation (shrubs vs. grasslands)
• Agroforestry, rotation rates, industry vs.
• community management

Products and Project Follow-ups 1.
Commissioned Study 1 Carbon Budgets of Forest
Ecosystems in Southeast Asia following
Disturbance and Restoration 2. Commissioned
Study 2 Land Use Change and Carbon Cycle in
Arid and Semi-Arid Lands of East and Central
Asia 3. Scientists database on the project
theme 4. Website with a repository of reports,
documents, and graphical materials on the
topic http//gcte.org/Kobe-Meeting-I
ndex.htm 5. Special journal edition on Land
use/cover change and the terrestrial carbon
cycle in Asia to be published in Science
in China. 6. Drafts for research proposals and
support background papers (under
development) 7. Recommendations to further link
land use/cover change projects to the
effects on the terrestrial carbon cycle. 8.
Linkages to the new Carbon Cycle Research Program
of IGBP, IHDP, WCRP.
Background Photo 30-sec Land Cover of Asia.
Courtesy of Ryutaro Tateishi, CEReS Chiba
University, Japan
Poster prepared by the GCTE Office, Australia,
and available at http//www.gcte.org