{
  "abstract": "Dense humid forests in Central Africa hold vast biomass carbon stocks but are increasingly affected by small-scale disturbances that are difficult to detect with current satellite observations. Here, we generate 10 m canopy height maps for 2019-2022 using deep learning with spaceborne lidar and Sentinel-1/ -2 imagery, and derive aboveground biomass changes at 30 m resolution. The maps reveal widespread small disturbance patches, 87% smaller than 1 ha. These account for 48% of biomass carbon gains in regrowing forests and 37% of carbon losses from deforestation. We estimate a net forest carbon loss of -58 ± 14 Tg C yr -1 , with gross losses of -126 ± 21 Tg C yr -1 partially offset by gains of 68 ± 10 Tg C yr -1 . The Democratic Republic of the Congo emerges as a net carbon source (-46 ± 11 Tg C yr -1 ), representing 79% of the regional loss, primarily due to degradation, despite having the largest carbon gains in young secondary forests. Our remote-sensing estimates of national carbon budgets are broadly consistent with country-level inventories and bookkeeping model estimates, paving the way for spatially explicit and transparent carbon monitoring.\n\nCentral African forests play a vital role in the global carbon cycle, storing approximately 10% of the world's forest biomass carbon 1-3 . Although intact forests have historically acted as a major carbon sink 4 , recent studies suggest that this sink is weakening, tending toward carbon neutrality or even becoming a net source 5-7 . Disturbances from deforestation, degradation (canopy disturbances that reduce biomass without converting forest to non-forest 8 ), and fragmentation are increasingly affecting these forests 9,10 . At the same time, carbon gains arise from sustainable forestry, restoration, plantations, and forest regrowth following clearing events from shifting cultivation and",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, LSCE/IPSL, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Université Paris Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France. liang.wan@lsce.ipsl.fr.",
    "Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, LSCE/IPSL, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Université Paris Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.",
    "Kayrros SAS, Paris, France.",
    "Department of Geoscience and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.",
    "CRBE, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, IRD, Toulouse INP, Toulouse, France.",
    "European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, Italy.",
    "ISPA, UMR 1391 INRAE, Univ. Bordeaux, Villenave d'Ornon, France.",
    "TERRA Teaching and Research Centre, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Université de Liège, Gembloux, Belgium.",
    "Department of Earth System Science, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Institute for Global Change Studies, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.",
    "Department of Landscape Architecture and Rural Systems Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.",
    "State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.",
    "Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.",
    "Ecole Régionale Post-Universitaire d'Aménagement et Gestion Intégrés des Forêts et Territoires Tropicaux (ERAIFT), Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.",
    "AMAP, Univ Montpellier, IRD, CIRAD, CNRS, INRAE, Montpellier, France."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 18,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Liang Wan",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6561-6808"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Philippe Ciais",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-8560-4943"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Aurélien de Truchis"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Yidi Xu",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1528-4256"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Martin Brandt",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9531-1239"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Jérôme Chave",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7766-1347"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Clément Bourgoin",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4923-3035"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Jean-Pierre Wigneron",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-5345-3618"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Jean-François Bastin",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2602-7247"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8
      ],
      "name": "Wei Li",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2543-2558"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        9
      ],
      "name": "Youngryel Ryu",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6238-2479"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        10
      ],
      "name": "Shidong Liu",
      "orcid": "0009-0008-6320-0161"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "David Purnell"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Ibrahim Fayad"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        11
      ],
      "name": "Le Bienfaiteur Sagang",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-8778-3121"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Arthur Vander Linden"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7,
        12
      ],
      "name": "Timothée Besisa"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        13
      ],
      "name": "Pierre Ploton",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8800-3593"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/445p6wtqaqyrf.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1038/s41467-026-77531-y",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13680362",
  "id": "445p6wtqaqyrf",
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    "2041-1723"
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  "landing_url": "https://hal.science/hal-05840931v1",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND 4.0",
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  "pdf_url": "https://hal.science/hal-05840931/document",
  "pmcid": "PMC13680362",
  "pmid": "42897164",
  "published": "2026-09-17",
  "publisher": "Nature Publishing Group",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/445p6wtqaqyrf.ris",
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      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:02Z",
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  "subjects": [
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      "subfield": "environmental-science"
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      "origin": "hal:1.sdu.ocean",
      "subfield": "oceanography"
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  ],
  "title": "Net carbon losses in Central African forests revealed by high-resolution biomass change maps",
  "title_text": "Net carbon losses in Central African forests revealed by high-resolution biomass change maps",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:41Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/445p6wtqaqyrf",
  "venue": "Nature Communications",
  "versions": []
}