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<p>Large earthquakes in mountainous regions trigger extensive landslides, which mobilize organic carbon via soil erosion and vegetation loss, disrupting carbon reservoirs and influencing CO<sub>2</sub> levels. Quantifying earthquake impacts on carbon stock and cycling remains challenging. Here, we use field organic carbon data from 91 quadrats and over 20 years of remote sensing imagery to assess the impact of landslides from the 2008 <i>M</i><sub>w</sub> 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake on the carbon budget. We show that these landslides removed 2.72 ± 0.52 Tg of organic carbon in the upper Min Jiang. While its oxidation releases CO<sub>2</sub>, rapid revegetation offsets this, making the earthquake a net carbon sink. Time-series data indicate that vegetation carbon stocks will recover to 50% of pre-earthquake levels in 74 ± 5 years, whereas soil organic carbon recovery to 50% may take 500–850 years. This study highlights the decadal to centennial-scale impact of extreme events on carbon cycling.</p>

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Rapid revegetation after the Wenchuan earthquake offsets landslide-induced carbon losses

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年2月21日

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  • Chao Zhu,
  • Jin Wang,
  • Meilan Wen,
  • Dan Zhao,
  • Wen Zhang,
  • Yuanxin Qu,
  • Fei Zhang,
  • Zhangdong Jin

摘要

Large earthquakes in mountainous regions trigger extensive landslides, which mobilize organic carbon via soil erosion and vegetation loss, disrupting carbon reservoirs and influencing CO2 levels. Quantifying earthquake impacts on carbon stock and cycling remains challenging. Here, we use field organic carbon data from 91 quadrats and over 20 years of remote sensing imagery to assess the impact of landslides from the 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake on the carbon budget. We show that these landslides removed 2.72 ± 0.52 Tg of organic carbon in the upper Min Jiang. While its oxidation releases CO2, rapid revegetation offsets this, making the earthquake a net carbon sink. Time-series data indicate that vegetation carbon stocks will recover to 50% of pre-earthquake levels in 74 ± 5 years, whereas soil organic carbon recovery to 50% may take 500–850 years. This study highlights the decadal to centennial-scale impact of extreme events on carbon cycling.