Trading Water for Carbon with Biological Carbon Sequestration

Robert B. Jackson; Estéban G. Jobbágy; Roni Avissar; Somnath Baidya Roy; D. J. Barrett; Charles W. Cook; Kathleen A. Farley; David C. Le Maître; Bruce A. McCarl; Brian C. Murray

doi:10.1126/science.1119282

Abstract

Carbon sequestration strategies highlight tree plantations without considering their full environmental consequences. We combined field research, synthesis of more than 600 observations, and climate and economic modeling to document substantial losses in stream flow, and increased soil salinization and acidification, with afforestation. Plantations decreased stream flow by 227 millimeters per year globally (52%), with 13% of streams drying completely for at least 1 year. Regional modeling of U.S. plantation scenarios suggests that climate feedbacks are unlikely to offset such water losses and could exacerbate them. Plantations can help control groundwater recharge and upwelling but reduce stream flow and salinize and acidify some soils.

Keywords

Environmental scienceGroundwater rechargeCarbon sequestrationAfforestationSTREAMSHydrology (agriculture)Perennial streamGroundwaterSoil waterAgroforestryAquiferSoil scienceCarbon dioxideGeologyEcology

Affiliated Institutions

Related Publications

A review of groundwater in high mountain environments

Lauren Somers , Jeffrey M. McKenzie

Abstract Mountain water resources are of particular importance for downstream populations but are threatened by decreasing water storage in snowpack and glaciers. Groundwater co...

2020 Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Water 275 citations

Effects of Forest Cutting and Herbicide Treatment on Nutrient Budgets in the Hubbard Brook Watershed‐Ecosystem

Gene E. Likens , Franz–Josef Bormann , Noye M. Johnson +2 more

All vegetation on Watershed 2 of the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest was cut during November and December of 1965, and vegetation regrowth was inhibited for two years by perio...

1970 Ecological Monographs 1203 citations

On the asymmetric response of aquifer water level to floods and droughts in Illinois

Elfatih A. B. Eltahir , Pat J.‐F. Yeh

Here we analyze observed characteristics of the natural variability in the regional‐scale hydrological cycle of Illinois, including the soil and atmospheric branches. This analy...

1999 Water Resources Research 326 citations

Statistical theory of groundwater flow and transport: Pore to laboratory, laboratory to formation, and formation to regional scale

Gédéon Dagan

The statistical approach has been applied increasingly to groundwater flow problems in the last decade, as is illustrated in Figure 3 by the cumulative number of articles publis...

1986 Water Resources Research 505 citations

Distributed Model for Small Semiarid Watersheds

Leonard J. Lane

A distributed model for estimation of runoff volumes and peak rates of flow from small semiarid watersheds is shown to produce reasonable estimates for mean runoff and flood fre...

1982 Journal of the Hydraulics Division 57 citations

Publication Info

Year: 2005
Type: article
Volume: 310
Issue: 5756
Pages: 1944-1947
Citations: 1301
Access: Closed

External Links

View on DOI.org

Social Impact

Altmetric

Trading Water for Carbon with Biological Carbon Sequestration

PlumX Metrics

Social media, news, blog, policy document mentions

Citation Metrics

1301

OpenAlex

Cite This

APA Style

                            
                                
                                    Robert B. Jackson, 
                                
                                    Estéban G. Jobbágy, 
                                
                                    Roni Avissar
                                
                                et al.
                            
                            (2005). 
                            Trading Water for Carbon with Biological Carbon Sequestration. 
                            Science
                            , 310
                            (5756)
                            , 1944-1947.
                            https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1119282
                        

Identifiers

DOI: 10.1126/science.1119282