The contribution of China’s Grain to Green Program to carbon sequestration

Biomass carbon storages and carbon sequestration potentials of the Grain for Green Program‐Covered Forests in China

“…The results are higher than the estimation of Liu et al. (2014) but lower than the estimation of Deng, Liu, et al. (2017).…”

“…At present, there are many Chinese scientists exploring carbon storages of (Fang, Chen, Peng, Zhao, & Ci, 2001; Zhao & Zhou, 2006), carbon sequestration (Li & Lei, 2010), carbon sequestration potential of forest vegetation (Chen, Zhang, Zhang, & Wan, 2009), as well as some others focusing on carbon storages (Yu et al., 2007), carbon sequestration (Deng, Liu, & Shangguan, 2014), and carbon sequestration potential of forestland soils (Chang, Fu, Liu, & Liu, 2011; Zhang, Dang, Tan, Cheng, & Zhang, 2010) in China. However, there are a few researches on carbon sequestration capacities of plantations in China (Liu et al., 2014). As the biggest developing country of the world, China had the largest plantation area in the world (Peng et al., 2014).…”

Multiple afforestation programs accelerate the greenness in the ‘Three North’ region of China from 1982 to 2013

“…Aimed at planting protective forests in arid and semi-arid areas, this program has been in place for more than three decades and will continue until 2050. The subsequent Beijing-Tianjin Sand Source Control Programs (BSSCP), which aims to protect against sandstorms through afforestation , the Natural Forest Conservation Program (NFCP), which aims at protecting natural forests through logging bans, and the Grain to Green Program (GTGP), which targets to convert farmland into forests and grasslands (Jia et al, 2014;Liu et al, 2014), have all been implemented in the 'Three North' region since 2000. Although enhanced vegetation had successfully combated the desertification and dust storms (Zhang et al, 2012;Fan et al, 2014;Piao et al, 2005;Tan and Li, 2015), sequenced carbon in both above ground biomass and soil (Deng et al, 2014;Song et al, 2014;Zhou et al, 2014), cooled down the surface temperature , and showed a positively feedback to the regional environment (Jiang et al, 2015;Zhang et al, 2014), the effectiveness of planting trees has been questioned by other researchers because of low precipitation in these dry regions (Cao, 2008;Cao et al, 2010;Ma et al, 2013;Sun et al, 2006).…”

Forest cover maps of China in 2010 from multiple approaches and data sources: PALSAR, Landsat, MODIS, FRA, and NFI

“…The loss and degradation of forests could affect various ecosystem services and result in a series of ecological disasters. To reverse the adverse effects from deforestation and forest degradation, extensive reforestation and afforestation activities have also been carried out in many parts of the world over the last several decades, especially in East Asian countries, such as the ''Grain for Green" project in China and reforestation projects in Vietnam (FAO, 2012;Lambin and Meyfroidt, 2011;Liu et al, 2014;Xiao, 2014). These reforestation and afforestation mainly occurred in the abandoned or marginal lands, which increases the forest area and carbon sequestration (Fang et al, 2014b;Lambin and Meyfroidt, 2011).…”