Articles | Volume 6, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-6-731-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-6-731-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Short communication
| 
27 Nov 2015
Short communication |
| 27 Nov 2015
Quantifying differences in land use emission estimates implied by definition discrepancies
Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Ascot, SL5 7PY, UK
Climate and Environmental Physics , Physics Institute, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research , University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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Cited
24 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Sensitivity of land use change emission estimates to historical land use and land cover mapping S. Peng et al. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GB005360
- Research progress on the interaction between forest carbon sequestration and climate change J. Lin et al. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13021-026-00437-1
- Historical and future losses of terrestrial ecosystem carbon stocks induced by urbanization in China from 1990 to 2100 under SSP scenarios K. Zhao et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indic.2025.101023
- Interactions of land-use cover and climate change at global level: How to mitigate the environmental risks and warming effects A. Barati et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.109829
- Interactions Between Land-Use Change and Climate-Carbon Cycle Feedbacks R. Houghton https://doi.org/10.1007/s40641-018-0099-9
- Land use and land cover changes and the link to land degradation in Arsi Negele district, Central Rift Valley, Ethiopia Z. Mekonnen et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsase.2018.07.012
- The Land Use Model Intercomparison Project (LUMIP) contribution to CMIP6: rationale and experimental design D. Lawrence et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-2973-2016
- A Bayesian ensemble data assimilation to constrain model parameters and land-use carbon emissions S. Lienert & F. Joos https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2909-2018
- Terrestrial fluxes of carbon in GCP carbon budgets R. Houghton https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15050
- Differences and uncertainties in land-use CO2 flux estimates W. Obermeier et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-025-00730-6
- Current challenges of implementing anthropogenic land-use and land-cover change in models contributing to climate change assessments R. Prestele et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-8-369-2017
- Modelled land use and land cover change emissions – a spatio-temporal comparison of different approaches W. Obermeier et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-635-2021
- Uncertainties in the land-use flux resulting from land-use change reconstructions and gross land transitions A. Bayer et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-8-91-2017
- Global and regional fluxes of carbon from land use and land cover change 1850–2015 R. Houghton & A. Nassikas https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GB005546
- Historical CO2 emissions from land use and land cover change and their uncertainty T. Gasser et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4075-2020
- Comparison of uncertainties in land-use change fluxes from bookkeeping model parameterisation A. Bastos et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-745-2021
- Global Carbon Budget 2016 C. Le Quéré et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-8-605-2016
- Largely underestimated carbon emission from land use and land cover change in the conterminous United States Z. Yu et al. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14768
- The Dependence of Ecosystem Water Use Partitioning on Vegetation Productivity at the Inter‐Annual Time Scale Z. Jing et al. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JD033756
- Synthesizing global carbon–nitrogen coupling effects – the MAGICC coupled carbon–nitrogen cycle model v1.0 G. Tang et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-2193-2025
- Climate warming from managed grasslands cancels the cooling effect of carbon sinks in sparsely grazed and natural grasslands J. Chang et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20406-7
- Investigating carbon and nitrogen conservation in reported CMIP6 Earth system model data G. Tang et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-2111-2025
- Land-use and land-cover change carbon emissions between 1901 and 2012 constrained by biomass observations W. Li et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-5053-2017
- Analysis of observed and perceived climate change and variability in Arsi Negele District, Ethiopia Z. Mekonnen et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-017-9934-8
24 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Sensitivity of land use change emission estimates to historical land use and land cover mapping S. Peng et al. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GB005360
- Research progress on the interaction between forest carbon sequestration and climate change J. Lin et al. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13021-026-00437-1
- Historical and future losses of terrestrial ecosystem carbon stocks induced by urbanization in China from 1990 to 2100 under SSP scenarios K. Zhao et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indic.2025.101023
- Interactions of land-use cover and climate change at global level: How to mitigate the environmental risks and warming effects A. Barati et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.109829
- Interactions Between Land-Use Change and Climate-Carbon Cycle Feedbacks R. Houghton https://doi.org/10.1007/s40641-018-0099-9
- Land use and land cover changes and the link to land degradation in Arsi Negele district, Central Rift Valley, Ethiopia Z. Mekonnen et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsase.2018.07.012
- The Land Use Model Intercomparison Project (LUMIP) contribution to CMIP6: rationale and experimental design D. Lawrence et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-2973-2016
- A Bayesian ensemble data assimilation to constrain model parameters and land-use carbon emissions S. Lienert & F. Joos https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2909-2018
- Terrestrial fluxes of carbon in GCP carbon budgets R. Houghton https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15050
- Differences and uncertainties in land-use CO2 flux estimates W. Obermeier et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-025-00730-6
- Current challenges of implementing anthropogenic land-use and land-cover change in models contributing to climate change assessments R. Prestele et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-8-369-2017
- Modelled land use and land cover change emissions – a spatio-temporal comparison of different approaches W. Obermeier et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-635-2021
- Uncertainties in the land-use flux resulting from land-use change reconstructions and gross land transitions A. Bayer et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-8-91-2017
- Global and regional fluxes of carbon from land use and land cover change 1850–2015 R. Houghton & A. Nassikas https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GB005546
- Historical CO2 emissions from land use and land cover change and their uncertainty T. Gasser et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4075-2020
- Comparison of uncertainties in land-use change fluxes from bookkeeping model parameterisation A. Bastos et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-745-2021
- Global Carbon Budget 2016 C. Le Quéré et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-8-605-2016
- Largely underestimated carbon emission from land use and land cover change in the conterminous United States Z. Yu et al. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14768
- The Dependence of Ecosystem Water Use Partitioning on Vegetation Productivity at the Inter‐Annual Time Scale Z. Jing et al. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JD033756
- Synthesizing global carbon–nitrogen coupling effects – the MAGICC coupled carbon–nitrogen cycle model v1.0 G. Tang et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-2193-2025
- Climate warming from managed grasslands cancels the cooling effect of carbon sinks in sparsely grazed and natural grasslands J. Chang et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20406-7
- Investigating carbon and nitrogen conservation in reported CMIP6 Earth system model data G. Tang et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-2111-2025
- Land-use and land-cover change carbon emissions between 1901 and 2012 constrained by biomass observations W. Li et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-5053-2017
- Analysis of observed and perceived climate change and variability in Arsi Negele District, Ethiopia Z. Mekonnen et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-017-9934-8
Saved (final revised paper)
Latest update: 12 Jun 2026
Short summary
Estimates for land use change CO2 emissions (eLUC) rely on different approaches, implying conceptual differences of what eLUC represents. We use an Earth System Model and quantify differences between two commonly applied methods to be ~20% for historical eLUC but increasing under a future scenario. We decompose eLUC into component fluxes, quantify them, and discuss best practices for global carbon budget accountings and model-data intercomparisons relying on different methods to estimate eLUC.
Estimates for land use change CO2 emissions (eLUC) rely on different approaches, implying...
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