Tag: afforestation

Peer-reviewed Publications

Zhang et al. (2026): Natural forest expansion is a larger carbon sink than secondary forests in moist tropics

Yihang Zhang, Viola H. A. Heinrich, Clément Bourgoin, Xia Wang, Xiaodong Li, Yun Du and Peter M. Atkinson, IN: Nature Geoscience, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-026-01984-5

Tropical secondary forests grow back naturally after the original forest has been cleared, while degraded forests comprise regrowth within forested land that has experienced partial structural and functional loss. Both represent important carbon sinks. However, natural forest expansion into originally unforested land also occurs, and despite covering 6% more area than secondary forests in the moist tropics, its carbon sink remains unquantified. Here the authors quantify the above-ground carbon sink and analyse its drivers across natural forest expansion, secondary forest and degraded forest by combining satellite-derived tropical moist forest changes with spaceborne LiDAR-derived biomass.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Yu et al. (2026): Greenhouse gas budget and net carbon sequestration of different afforestation types of the “Grain for Green” Project

Tianren Yu, Fei Lu, Binbin Huang, Xiaobiao Zhang, Shishuai Yang, Bojie Li, Xiaoke Wang, Yafei Yuan, Lu Zhang, Zhiyun Ouyang, IN: Ecological Forestry, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecofro.2026.03.023

To examine spatial patterns and heterogeneities in greenhouse gas (GHG) sequestration, mitigation and emission of different afforestation types (i.e., ecological, economic, timber and firewood forest) in the “Grain for Green” project (GGP), the authors estimated the GHG budgets of 30 typical tree species in afforested areas, established a carbon accounting and net mitigation (CANM-GGP) assessment framework, and determined the net carbon sequestration and mitigation rates of the four afforestation types in the GGP.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Stephan et al. (2026): What do we know about the albedo effect of afforestation and reforestation? A systematic synthesis of the scientific literature

Leon Stephan, Ingrid Schulte and Sabine Fuss, IN: Environmental Research Letters, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae608b

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) will play a crucial role in mitigating climate change and achieving net zero CO₂ emissions. As one technique of the CDR portfolio, afforestation and reforestation (A/R) is heavily relied on in both climate change mitigation scenarios and policy strategies. However, beyond CO₂ sequestration, A/R can have side effects that may affect its effectiveness in drawing global temperatures down, which is the ultimate aim of CDR. In their study, the authors focus on A/R’s impact on the Earth’s albedo. Here, they provide the first systematic overview of the albedo effect. They review and synthesize the existing evidence in the scientific literature and analyze patterns of the albedo effect.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Sheng et al. (2026): The forest carbon paradox: novel insights into China’s forest-economy-emissions relationships

Zhelin Sheng, Kaimei Zhang, Chen Ling, Wenjuan Shen, Zihan Zhang, Chuanxin Ma, Changlei Xia, Keyi Chen, Yu Shen, Yu Hao and Jiangang Han, IN: npj Climate Action, https://doi.org/10.1038/s44168-026-00350-w

Forest-climate-economy relationships present critical challenges for climate mitigation in rapidly developing economies. While forests are traditionally viewed as carbon sinks, their effectiveness as tradable carbon products remains difficult to quantify in the near term due to time lags and scale mismatch with energy-driven emissions dynamics. This study examines these relationships in China using data from 30 provinces (from 2000 to 2019). Using LSTM-MLP hybrid models and multispatial Convergent Cross Mapping, the authors reveal what they term the “forest carbon paradox”: despite China’s extensive afforestation efforts increasing forest coverage significantly, these initiatives demonstrate limited immediate impact on CO₂ emissions and GDP trajectories.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Huang et al. (2026): Regulation of Water-Soluble Salt Ions by Plantations to Enhance Carbon Sequestration in Coastal Saline-Alkali Soils

Kaiwen Huang, Jiajun Ou, Wenyi Zhou, Rui Tan, Xin Liu, Ke Huang, Jinling Wang, Jie Lin, IN: Land Degradation & Development, https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.70501

Soil carbon stability is critical for global carbon balance and ecosystem sustainability. Coastal saline-alkali lands have great potential for carbon sequestration, yet the mechanisms by which water-soluble salt ions regulate soil carbon dynamics remain unclear. To elucidate this relationship, this study systematically evaluated the co-variations among water-soluble salt ion distribution, soil chemical properties, and carbon fractions within the 0–100 cm soil profile under different plantation types (Taxodium hybrid “Zhongshanshan”, Carya cathayensis, and Ulmus parvifolia) in coastal saline-alkali land. The objective was to reveal the regulatory mechanisms of salt ions on soil carbon processes.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Noor et al. (2026): Human-induced biospheric carbon sink: Impact from the Taklamakan Afforestation Project

Salma Noor, Xun Jiang, Xinyue Wang, Jiani Yang, Sally Newman, King-Fai Li, Liming Li, Le Yu, Xiyu Li and Yuk L Yung, IN: PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41557807/

The Taklamakan Desert, one of the world’s largest and driest deserts, has traditionally been considered a biological void. Here, the authors demonstrate that large-scale ecological restoration is transforming this hyperarid environment into a carbon sink.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Favero & Austin (2026): Charting our forest future: national supply curves for forest-based CO₂ mitigation

Alice Favero and Kemen G. Austin, IN: Nature Portfolio, https://doi.org/10.1038/s44168-026-00335-9

Forests currently store more carbon in their vegetation and soil than all of the carbon in earth’s atmosphere. But how much additional CO₂ can be removed and sequestered by forests in the future, and at what cost? This study examines the potential and costs of forest-based mitigation in 215 countries, utilizing a dynamic economic model, FAO data, and new estimates of feasible area and pace of forest restoration.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Allen et al. (2026): Projected impact of combined high-end atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and tree restoration on albedo, forest emissions and carbon uptake

Robert J. Allen, Taylor Adkins & Olivia E. Clifton, IN: Communications Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1038/s44458-025-00003-9

Tree restoration is seen as a nature-based solution to climate change, because trees remove carbon from the atmosphere. However, tree cover can influence surface temperatures in other ways, for example by changing albedo and enhancing evapotranspiration. These impacts may, in turn, be affected by increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. Here, the authors present simulations with a coupled atmosphere-land-slab-ocean model to investigate how doubled atmospheric carbon dioxide levels affect warming in a high-end scenario where afforestation covers a land area 35% larger than the USA.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

du Toit et al. (2026): Deciduous afforestation as a natural climate solution: impacts on biomass and carbon sequestration in boreal forests of Canada

Francois du Toit, Nicholas C. Coops, Christopher Mulverhill and Aoife Toomey, IN: Carbon Balance and Management, https://doi.org/10.1186/s13021-025-00385-2

Rising temperatures and altered precipitation patterns are expected to have profound impacts on the composition and condition of boreal forests. As a result there are growing needs for climate adaptation strategies in boreal forest management; one potential solution to achieve these goals is the utilization of nature-based climate-informed adaption solutions including afforestation using deciduous species which can help offset carbon emissions and sequester carbon at an increased rate. Deciduous afforestation has the potential to allow mangers to adapt fire-risk, while increasing carbon storage. Here, the authors investigated the impact of deciduous compared to coniferous afforestation on biomass accumulation in the Canadian boreal using a process-based model (3-PG). 3-PG utilises physiological principals to predict the growth of individual species across a variety of climate scenarios. This approach is valuable for projecting forest growth under changing climate, as it can account for plant responses to environmental factors which may not be captured by empirical models based on historical data. The authors simulated forest growth under three future climate scenarios to 2080, and compared the aboveground biomass (AGB, tons of Dry Matter per hectare; tDM ha−1) accumulated to baseline estimates using locally adapted coniferous species. In addition, the authors investigated the modelled effects of converting from conifer to deciduous species on stand level soil water and vapor pressure deficit responses to climate.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Buzacott et al. (2025): Afforestation-Related Fertilisation Quickly Turns Barren Cutaway Peatland Into a Carbon Dioxide Sink

Alexander J. V. Buzacott, Kari Laasasenaho, Risto Lauhanen, Kari Minkkinen, Paavo Ojanen, Gopal Adhikari, Liisa Jokelainen, Lassi Päkkilä, Hannu Marttila, Annalea Lohila, IN: Global Change Biology, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70644

Energy peat extraction has declined rapidly in Europe in recent years, leaving thousands of hectares of land requiring after-use management and planning. A popular after-use option, afforestation, is understudied and there is a limited understanding of its overall effect on greenhouse gas (GHG) and energy exchange. In this study, the authors present a multi-year record of eddy covariance fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO₂), energy fluxes and surface albedo, chamber measurements of methane (CH₄) and N₂O, and estimates of lateral carbon (C) losses from dissolved organic carbon (DOC) measurements from a cutaway peatland in Finland during the first 3 years of afforestation.

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