AimTerrestrial ecosystems have sequestered, on average, the equivalent of 30% of anthropogenic carbon (C) emissions during the past decades, but annual sequestration varies from year to year. For effective C management, it is imperative to develop a predictive understanding of the interannual variability (IAV) of terrestrial net ecosystem C exchange (NEE). LocationGlobal terrestrial ecosystems. MethodsWe conducted a comprehensive review to examine the IAV of NEE at global, regional and ecosystem scales. Then we outlined a conceptual framework for understanding how anomalies in climate factors impact ecological processes of C cycling and thus influence the IAV of NEE through biogeochemical regulation. ResultsThe phenomenon of IAV in land NEE has been ubiquitously observed at global, regional and ecosystem scales. Global IAV is often attributable to either tropical or semi-arid regions, or to some combination thereof, which is still under debate. Previous studies focus on identifying climate factors as driving forces of IAV, whereas biological mechanisms underlying the IAV of ecosystem NEE are less clear. We found that climate anomalies affect the IAV of NEE primarily through their differential impacts on ecosystem C uptake and respiration. Moreover, recent studies suggest that the carbon uptake period makes less contribution than the carbon uptake amplitude to IAV in NEE. Although land models incorporate most processes underlying IAV, their efficacy to predict the IAV in NEE remains low. Main conclusionsTo improve our ability to predict future IAV of the terrestrial C cycle, we have to understand biological mechanisms through which anomalies in climate factors cause the IAV of NEE. Future research needs to pay more attention not only to the differential effects of climate anomalies on photosynthesis and respiration but also to the relative importance of the C uptake period and amplitude in causing the IAV of NEE. Ultimately, we need multiple independent approaches, such as benchmark analysis, data assimilation and time-series statistics, to integrate data, modelling frameworks and theory to improve our ability to predict future IAV in the terrestrial C cycle.

Quantifying the carbon budgets of terrestrial ecosystems is the foundation on which to understand the role of these ecosystems as carbon sinks and to mitigate global climate change. Through a re-examination of the conceptual framework of ecosystem productivity and the integration of multi-source data, we assumed that the entire terrestrial ecosystems in China to be a large-scale regional biome-society system. We approximated the carbon fluxes of key natural and anthropogenic processes at a regional scale, including fluxes of emissions from reactive carbon and creature ingestion, and fluxes of emissions from anthropogenic and natural disturbances. The gross primary productivity, ecosystem respiration and net ecosystem productivity (NEP) in China were 7.78, 5.89 and 1.89 PgC a -1 , respectively, during the period from 2001 to 2010. After accounting for the consumption of reactive carbon and creature ingestion (0.078 PgC a -1 ), fires (0.002 PgC a -1 ), water erosion (0.038 PgC a -1 ) and agricultural and forestry utilization (0.806 PgC a -1 ), the final carbon sink in China was about 0.966 PgC a -1 ; this was considered as the climate-based potential terrestrial ecosystem carbon sink for the current climate conditions in China. The carbon emissions caused by anthropogenic disturbances accounted for more than 42 % of the NEP, which indicated that humans can play an important role in increasing terrestrial carbon sequestration and mitigating global climate change. This role can be fulfilled by reducing the carbon emissions caused by human activities and by prolonging the residence time of fixed organic carbon in the large-scale regional biome-society system through the improvement of ecosystem management.

Keywords: eddy covariance water use efficiency terrestrial ecosystems ChinaFLUX spatial pattern altitude leaf area index vertical variation Water use efficiency (WUE) reflects the coupling of carbon and water cycles. Analyzing the spatial variability of WUE can improve our understanding on the interaction between carbon and water cycles at a large scale, which also provides a basis for improving the regional carbon budget assessment. Based on China's eddy covariance measurements, we examined the spatial variation of China's WUE and its affecting factors. WUE showed a decreasing trend with the increasing altitude, which was the result of ecosystem type distribution resulting from the climatic gradient. After fully considering the vertical variation of WUE, we found that not only mean annual air temperature (MAT), mean annual precipitation (MAP), and mean leaf area index (MLAI) but also mean annual total photosynthesis active radiation (MAR) affected the spatial variation of WUE. With the increasing MAT, MAP, and MLAI, WUE increased significantly but the increasing MAR decreased WUE. The spatial variation of WUE could be directly depicted by MLAI and altitude, the equation including which explained 65% of the spatial variation of WUE. The effects of MAT and MAP on the spatial variation of WUE may be achieved through altering MLAI, while the mechanism underlying the effect of MAR on the spatial variation of WUE was still unclear, which should be the subject of future investigations. This study reveals the vertical variation of WUE and provides a new approach to generate the spatial variation in WUE, which will benefit the regional carbon budget assessment.