Carbon Flux to the Atmosphere From Land-use Changes: 1850 to 1990 (NDP-050/R1)

The methods and data sources used to derive this time series of flux estimates are described in Houghton (1999, 2003), Houghton and Hackler (1995), and Houghton et al. (1983). In summary, this database provides estimates of regional and global net carbon fluxes, on a year-by-year basis from 1850 through 2005, resulting from changes in land use (such as harvesting of forest products and clearing for agriculture), taking into account not only the initial removal and oxidation of the carbon in the vegetation, but also subsequent regrowth and changes in soil carbon. The net flux of carbon to the atmosphere from changes in land use from 1850 to 2005 was modeled as a function of documented land-use change and changes in aboveground and belowground carbon following changes in land use. For access to the data files, click this link to the CDIAC data transition website: http://cdiac.ess-dive.lbl.gov/trends/landuse/houghton/houghton.html