Importance of methane and nitrous oxide for Europe's terrestrial greenhouse-gas balance
E. D. Schulze
(1)
,
S. Luyssaert
(2)
,
Philippe Ciais
(2, 3)
,
A. Freibauer
(4)
,
I. A. Janssens
(5)
,
Jean-François J.-F. Soussana
(6)
,
P. Smith
(7)
,
J. Grace
(8)
,
I. Levin
(9)
,
B. Thiruchittampalam
(10)
,
M. Heimann
(1)
,
A. J. Dolman
(11)
,
R. Valentini
(12)
,
Philippe Bousquet
(2, 13)
,
P. Peylin
(2, 14)
,
W. Peters
(15)
,
C. Rödenbeck
(1)
,
G. Etiope
(16)
,
N. Vuichard
(2, 14)
,
M. Wattenbach
(17)
,
G. J. Nabuurs
(18)
,
Z. Poussi
(19)
,
J. Nieschulze
(1)
,
J. H. Gash
(11, 20)
1
MPI-BGC -
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
2 LSCE - Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette]
3 ICOS-ATC - ICOS-ATC
4 Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institut
5 UA - University of Antwerp
6 UREP - Unité de recherche sur l'Ecosystème Prairial
7 Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences [Aberdeen]
8 Edin. - University of Edinburgh
9 Universität Heidelberg [Heidelberg] = Heidelberg University
10 University of Stuttgart
11 VU - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam [Amsterdam]
12 Università degli studi della Tuscia [Viterbo]
13 SATINV - Modélisation INVerse pour les mesures atmosphériques et SATellitaires
14 MOSAIC - Modélisation des Surfaces et Interfaces Continentales
15 WUR - Wageningen University and Research Centre
16 Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia
17 University of Aberdeen
18 EFI - European Forest Institute = Institut Européen de la Forêt = Euroopan metsäinstituutti
19 UVSQ - Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
20 NERC - Natural Environment Research Council
2 LSCE - Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette]
3 ICOS-ATC - ICOS-ATC
4 Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institut
5 UA - University of Antwerp
6 UREP - Unité de recherche sur l'Ecosystème Prairial
7 Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences [Aberdeen]
8 Edin. - University of Edinburgh
9 Universität Heidelberg [Heidelberg] = Heidelberg University
10 University of Stuttgart
11 VU - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam [Amsterdam]
12 Università degli studi della Tuscia [Viterbo]
13 SATINV - Modélisation INVerse pour les mesures atmosphériques et SATellitaires
14 MOSAIC - Modélisation des Surfaces et Interfaces Continentales
15 WUR - Wageningen University and Research Centre
16 Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia
17 University of Aberdeen
18 EFI - European Forest Institute = Institut Européen de la Forêt = Euroopan metsäinstituutti
19 UVSQ - Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
20 NERC - Natural Environment Research Council
Philippe Ciais
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 756308
- ORCID : 0000-0001-8560-4943
- IdRef : 092241700
Philippe Bousquet
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 966349
- IdHAL : philippe-bousquet
P. Peylin
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 740342
- IdHAL : philippe-peylin
- ORCID : 0000-0001-9335-6994
- IdRef : 189760133
N. Vuichard
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 743248
- IdHAL : nicolas-vuichard
- ORCID : 0000-0002-3397-7948
- IdRef : 109358910
Résumé
Climate change negotiations aim to reduce net greenhouse-gas emissions by encouraging direct reductions of emissions and crediting countries for their terrestrial greenhouse-gas sinks. Ecosystem carbon dioxide uptake has offset nearly 10% of Europe's fossil fuel emissions, but not all of this may be creditable under the rules of the Kyoto Protocol. Although this treaty recognizes the importance of methane and nitrous oxide emissions, scientific research has largely focused on carbon dioxide. Here we review recent estimates of European carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide fluxes between 2000 and 2005, using both top-down estimates based on atmospheric observations and bottom-up estimates derived from ground-based measurements. Both methods yield similar fluxes of greenhouse gases, suggesting that methane emissions from feedstock and nitrous oxide emissions from arable agriculture are fully compensated for by the carbon dioxide sink provided by forests and grasslands. As a result, the balance for all greenhouse gases across Europe's terrestrial biosphere is near neutral, despite carbon sequestration in forests and grasslands. The trend towards more intensive agriculture and logging is likely to make Europe's land surface a significant source of greenhouse gases. The development of land management policies which aim to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions should be a priority.