Linking carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems with other climate forcing agents: A synthesis allowing for effective carbon dioxide stabilization policies

• James T. Randerson
• Josep G. Canadell
• Robert B. Jackson

Abstract
Reforestation, afforestation, and avoided deforestation mitigation options influence climate at local to global scales by mechanisms in addition to their effect on stabilizing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. In some cases, for example, climate forcing from concurrent changes in albedo, evapotranspiration, and aerosols may have a larger impact regionally and globally than the net effects of greenhouse gases, yet these mechanisms are not accounted for in current policy frameworks such as the Kyoto Protocol. We propose a series of three meetings, bringing together ecosystem ecologists, climate scientists, and policy experts to synthesize recent work on tradeoffs between biogeochemical and biophysical forcing agents associated with land cover change. In a second step, we plan to draft a policy perspective that reevaluates the role of terrestrial ecosystems in climate policy.