The role of forests in the carbon cycle and in climate change

Globally, terrestrial ecosystems are responsible for taking up approximately 25% of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. Forests are a major contributor to global carbon uptake and storage and are largely responsible for the consistency of the global carbon sink; with semiarid ecosystem response to precipitation and temperature accounting for the interannual variability in carbon uptake. Forest carbon source–sink dynamics and the total amount of carbon stored vary regionally and are heavily influenced by human land-use, human-caused climate change, and disturbance. The relative influence of these drivers and the effects of their interaction vary geographically. The success of the strategies that we employ to leverage forest-based climate mitigation will be dependent upon a thorough understanding of local ecological, social, and climate contexts.