Biodiversity loss reduces global terrestrial carbon storage

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 15; no. 1; p. 4354
• Main Authors: Weiskopf, Sarah R., Isbell, Forest, Arce-Plata, Maria Isabel, Marco, Moreno Di, Harfoot, Mike, Johnson, Justin, Lerman, Susannah B., Miller, Brian W., Morelli, Toni Lyn, Mori, Akira S., Weng, Ensheng, Ferrier, Simon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Goddard Space Flight Center Springer Nature 22.05.2024; Nature Publishing Group UK; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 704/106/694/2739; 704/106/694/682; 704/158/2165; 704/158/2458; 704/158/670; Bark; Biodiversity; Biodiversity loss; Biomass; Carbon; Carbon - metabolism; Carbon Sequestration; Climate Change; Climate change mitigation; Conservation of Natural Resources - methods; Ecosystem; Emissions; Feedback; Feedback loops; Fossil fuels; Humanities and Social Sciences; Land use; Meteorology and Climatology; multidisciplinary; Plants; Plants - metabolism; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Climate-Change Mitigation; Ecosystem Services; Climate-Change Impacts; Climate-Change Ecology; Biodiversity
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47872-7

Natural ecosystems store large amounts of carbon globally, as organisms absorb carbon from the atmosphere to build large, long-lasting, or slow-decaying structures such as tree bark or root systems. An ecosystem’s carbon sequestration potential is tightly linked to its biological diversity. Yet when considering future projections, many carbon sequestration models fail to account for the role biodiversity plays in carbon storage. Here, we assess the consequences of plant biodiversity loss for carbon storage under multiple climate and land-use change scenarios. We link a macroecological model projecting changes in vascular plant richness under different scenarios with empirical data on relationships between biodiversity and biomass. We find that biodiversity declines from climate and land use change could lead to a global loss of between 7.44-103.14 PgC (global sustainability scenario) and 10.87-145.95 PgC (fossil-fueled development scenario). This indicates a self-reinforcing feedback loop, where higher levels of climate change lead to greater biodiversity loss, which in turn leads to greater carbon emissions and ultimately more climate change. Conversely, biodiversity conservation and restoration can help achieve climate change mitigation goals.