Rodríguez-Veiga et al. (2025): Loss of tropical moist broadleaf forest has turned Africa’s forests from a carbon sink into a source
Pedro Rodríguez-Veiga, Joao M. B. Carreiras, Shaun Quegan, Janne Heiskanen, Petri Pellikka, Hari Adhikari, Arnan Araza, Martin Herold, Oliver Cartus, Thomas Luke Smallman, Mathew Williams, Chukwuebuka J. Nwobi, Narumasa Tsutsumida, Casey M. Ryan, Thom Brade, Nezha Acil and Heiko Balzter, IN: Scientific Reports, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-27462-3
Africa’s forests and woody savannas have historically acted as a carbon sink, removing atmospheric carbon and storing it as biomass. However, the authors‘ novel analysis reveals a critical transition from a carbon sink to a carbon source between 2010 and 2017. Using new high-resolution satellite-derived biomass maps, validated with field plots and machine learning techniques, the authors quantified the aboveground biomass stocks across African biomes over a decade.