BibTex format
@article{Liu:2026:10.1016/j.jag.2026.105374,
author = {Liu, J and Zhang, X and Gulakhmadov, A and Kumar, PR and Kganyago, M and Costa, V and Ma, H and Gu, X and Wang, L and Xiao, W and Subhaprada, D and Charan, MU and Xiang, L and Nam, WH and Marengo, JA and Chen, N},
doi = {10.1016/j.jag.2026.105374},
journal = {International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation},
title = {Quantifying fragile carbon balance by multiple remote sensing based vegetation optical depth datasets},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2026.105374},
volume = {151},
year = {2026}
}
RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)
TY - JOUR
AB - Tropical forests in the Americas play a pivotal role in the global carbon cycle, yet their net contribution to carbon balance remains uncertain due to competing processes of disturbance and recovery. While widespread deforestation, degradation, and fire drive persistent carbon losses, secondary and old-growth forests are often assumed to function as compensatory sinks. Here, we aim to provide a process-explicit and regionally consistent assessment of aboveground carbon (AGC) dynamics by disentangling carbon losses and gains across tropical America. However, the magnitude and persistence of these carbon losses and gains have not been systematically quantified at wide scale. To address this key issue, we integrate satellite-based AGC estimates derived from L-band vegetation optical depth (L-VOD), high-resolution (0.001°) disturbance mapping from AGC dataset and the Tropical Moist Forest (TMF) dataset, along with simulations from 9 dynamic global vegetation model (DGVMs) to provide a comprehensive assessment of AGC dynamics across tropical America during 2011–2020. L-VOD observations revealed that tropical America stored a mean AGC stock of 87.3 ± 18.8 PgC, with a modest but positive net annual increase of 159.2 ± 35.3 TgC yr<sup>1</sup> during 2011–2020. This net gain, however, masks substantial internal carbon fluxes driven by opposing disturbance and recovery processes. Disturbances collectively caused 475.6 TgC yr<sup>1</sup> of AGC loss, 301.7 TgC yr<sup>1</sup> of which originated from forests, indicating that forest ecosystems remain the primary source of carbon emissions in the region. Among disturbance types, fires dominated carbon losses (252.5 ± 24.1 TgC yr<sup>1</sup>), followed by deforestation (115.8 ± 29.4 TgC yr<sup>1</sup>), edge degradation (79.1 ± 30.4 TgC yr<sup>1</sup>), and other forms of degradation (28.2 ± 7.2 T
AU - Liu,J
AU - Zhang,X
AU - Gulakhmadov,A
AU - Kumar,PR
AU - Kganyago,M
AU - Costa,V
AU - Ma,H
AU - Gu,X
AU - Wang,L
AU - Xiao,W
AU - Subhaprada,D
AU - Charan,MU
AU - Xiang,L
AU - Nam,WH
AU - Marengo,JA
AU - Chen,N
DO - 10.1016/j.jag.2026.105374
PY - 2026///
SN - 1569-8432
TI - Quantifying fragile carbon balance by multiple remote sensing based vegetation optical depth datasets
T2 - International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2026.105374
VL - 151
ER -