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Peer-reviewedCC BYNature Geoscience

Accelerating biomass loss from forest disturbances across Europe

  • Katja Kowalski1
  • Alba Viana‐Soto1
  • Martin Brandt2
  • Philippe Ciais3
  • Wanda De Keersmaecker4
  • Rasmus Fensholt2
  • Thomas A. M. Pugh5,6,7
  • Yidi Xu3
  • Cornelius Senf1
7 affiliations
  1. 1Technical University of Munich, School of Life Sciences, Earth Observation for Ecosystem Management, Freising, Germany
  2. 2Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
  3. 3Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, CEA/CNRS/UVSQ/Université Paris Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
  4. 4Vlaamse Instelling Voor Technologisch Onderzoek (VITO), Mol, Belgium
  5. 5Birmingham Institute of Forest Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
  6. 6Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
  7. 7School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
Open at sourcePDFDOICite

Abstract

Forest disturbances are rising globally due to climate change and land-use pressures, weakening the terrestrial carbon sink. However, declines in aboveground biomass from tree cover loss remain poorly quantified, limiting our understanding of the role of disturbances in global carbon dynamics. Here we present a spatially explicit estimate of aboveground biomass losses from natural disturbances and harvest across Europe’s 216 million hectares of forests, using satellite remote sensing. From 1985 to 2023, gross aboveground biomass losses totalled 6.5 ± 0.8 Pg. Of these, 18% were caused by high-severity natural disturbances, whereas stand-replacing harvests accounted for 82%. From 2018 onward, aboveground biomass losses increased by 46% reaching annual values unprecedented in the preceding four decades. This acceleration coincided with high natural disturbance activity in biomass-rich temperate forests. After 2018, the sensitivity of aboveground biomass loss to disturbance area increased substantially, suggesting that even small increases in natural disturbances can result in large losses. As climate-driven natural disturbances intensify, we thus expect sustained aboveground biomass losses across Europe, despite policies to enhance the forest carbon sink until 2030.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{kowalski2026accelerating,
  title = {{Accelerating biomass loss from forest disturbances across Europe}},
  author = {Katja Kowalski and Alba Viana‐Soto and Martin Brandt and Philippe Ciais and Wanda De Keersmaecker and Rasmus Fensholt and Thomas A. M. Pugh and Yidi Xu and Cornelius Senf},
  journal = {Nature Geoscience},
  year = {2026},
  month = aug,
  doi = {10.1038/s41561-026-02032-y},
  url = {https://hal.science/hal-05849861v1},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Accelerating biomass loss from forest disturbances across Europe
AU  - Katja Kowalski
AU  - Alba Viana‐Soto
AU  - Martin Brandt
AU  - Philippe Ciais
AU  - Wanda De Keersmaecker
AU  - Rasmus Fensholt
AU  - Thomas A. M. Pugh
AU  - Yidi Xu
AU  - Cornelius Senf
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/05
JO  - Nature Geoscience
DO  - 10.1038/s41561-026-02032-y
UR  - https://hal.science/hal-05849861v1
AB  - Forest disturbances are rising globally due to climate change and land-use pressures, weakening the terrestrial carbon sink. However, declines in aboveground biomass from tree cover loss remain poorly quantified, limiting our understanding of the role of disturbances in global carbon dynamics. Here we present a spatially explicit estimate of aboveground biomass losses from natural disturbances and harvest across Europe’s 216 million hectares of forests, using satellite remote sensing. From 1985 to 2023, gross aboveground biomass losses totalled 6.5 ± 0.8 Pg. Of these, 18% were caused by high-severity natural disturbances, whereas stand-replacing harvests accounted for 82%. From 2018 onward, aboveground biomass losses increased by 46% reaching annual values unprecedented in the preceding four decades. This acceleration coincided with high natural disturbance activity in biomass-rich temperate forests. After 2018, the sensitivity of aboveground biomass loss to disturbance area increased substantially, suggesting that even small increases in natural disturbances can result in large losses. As climate-driven natural disturbances intensify, we thus expect sustained aboveground biomass losses across Europe, despite policies to enhance the forest carbon sink until 2030.
SN  - 1752-0894
SN  - 1752-0908
ER  -