Comment on “The global tree restoration potential”

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 366; no. 6463
• Main Authors: Veldman, Joseph W., Aleman, Julie C., Alvarado, Swanni T., Anderson, T. Michael, Archibald, Sally, Bond, William J., Boutton, Thomas W., Buchmann, Nina, Buisson, Elise, Canadell, Josep G., Dechoum, Michele de Sá, Diaz-Toribio, Milton H., Durigan, Giselda, Ewel, John J., Fernandes, G. Wilson, Fidelis, Alessandra, Fleischman, Forrest, Good, Stephen P., Griffith, Daniel M., Hermann, Julia-Maria, Hoffmann, William A., Le Stradic, Soizig, Lehmann, Caroline E. R., Mahy, Gregory, Nerlekar, Ashish N., Nippert, Jesse B., Noss, Reed F., Osborne, Colin P., Overbeck, Gerhard E., Parr, Catherine L., Pausas, Juli G., Pennington, R. Toby, Perring, Michael P., Putz, Francis E., Ratnam, Jayashree, Sankaran, Mahesh, Schmidt, Isabel B., Schmitt, Christine B., Silveira, Fernando A. O., Staver, A. Carla, Stevens, Nicola, Still, Christopher J., Strömberg, Caroline A. E., Temperton, Vicky M., Varner, J. Morgan, Zaloumis, Nicholas P.
• Format: Journal Article Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 18.10.2019; NLM (Medline)
• Subjects: Biodiversity and Ecology; Environment and Society; Environmental Sciences; Environmental sciences & ecology; Global Changes; Life sciences; Sciences de l’environnement & écologie; Sciences du vivant
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.aay7976

Bastin et al .’s estimate (Reports, 5 July 2019, p. 76) that tree planting for climate change mitigation could sequester 205 gigatonnes of carbon is approximately five times too large. Their analysis inflated soil organic carbon gains, failed to safeguard against warming from trees at high latitudes and elevations, and considered afforestation of savannas, grasslands, and shrublands to be restoration.