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Peer-reviewedCC BYNature Climate Change

Protect young secondary forests for optimum carbon removal

  • Nathaniel Robinson
  • C. Ronnie Drever
  • David A. Gibbs
  • Kristine Lister
  • Adriane Esquivel-Muelbert
  • Viola Heinrich
  • Philippe Ciais
  • Celso H. L. Silva-Junior
  • Zhihua Liu
  • Thomas A. M. Pugh
  • Sassan Saatchi
  • Yidi Xu
1 more authors
  • Susan C. Cook-Patton
Open at sourcePDFDOICite

Abstract

Avoiding severe global warming requires large-scale removals of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Forest regeneration offers cost-effective carbon removals, but annual rates vary substantially by location and forest age. Here we generate grid-level (~1-km 2 ) growth curves for aboveground live carbon in naturally regrowing forests by combining 109,708 field estimates with 66 environmental covariates. Across the globe and the first 100 years of growth, maximum carbon removal rates varied 200-fold, with the greatest rates estimated in ~20- to 40-year-old forests. Despite a focus on new forests for natural climate solutions, protecting existing young secondary forests can provide up to 8-fold more carbon removal per hectare than new regrowth. These maps could help to target the optimal ages and locations where a key carbon removal strategy could be applied, and improve estimates of how secondary forests contribute to global carbon cycling.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{robinson2026protect,
  title = {{Protect young secondary forests for optimum carbon removal}},
  author = {Nathaniel Robinson and C. Ronnie Drever and David A. Gibbs and Kristine Lister and Adriane Esquivel-Muelbert and Viola Heinrich and Philippe Ciais and Celso H. L. Silva-Junior and Zhihua Liu and Thomas A. M. Pugh and Sassan Saatchi and Yidi Xu and Susan C. Cook-Patton},
  journal = {Nature Climate Change},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  doi = {10.1038/s41558-025-02355-5},
  url = {https://hal.science/hal-05851904v1},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Protect young secondary forests for optimum carbon removal
AU  - Nathaniel Robinson
AU  - C. Ronnie Drever
AU  - David A. Gibbs
AU  - Kristine Lister
AU  - Adriane Esquivel-Muelbert
AU  - Viola Heinrich
AU  - Philippe Ciais
AU  - Celso H. L. Silva-Junior
AU  - Zhihua Liu
AU  - Thomas A. M. Pugh
AU  - Sassan Saatchi
AU  - Yidi Xu
AU  - Susan C. Cook-Patton
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/11/04
JO  - Nature Climate Change
DO  - 10.1038/s41558-025-02355-5
UR  - https://hal.science/hal-05851904v1
AB  - Avoiding severe global warming requires large-scale removals of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Forest regeneration offers cost-effective carbon removals, but annual rates vary substantially by location and forest age. Here we generate grid-level (~1-km 2 ) growth curves for aboveground live carbon in naturally regrowing forests by combining 109,708 field estimates with 66 environmental covariates. Across the globe and the first 100 years of growth, maximum carbon removal rates varied 200-fold, with the greatest rates estimated in ~20- to 40-year-old forests. Despite a focus on new forests for natural climate solutions, protecting existing young secondary forests can provide up to 8-fold more carbon removal per hectare than new regrowth. These maps could help to target the optimal ages and locations where a key carbon removal strategy could be applied, and improve estimates of how secondary forests contribute to global carbon cycling.
SN  - 1758-678X
SN  - 1758-6798
ER  -