The global extent of the grassland biome and implications for the terrestrial carbon sink

Autores
MacDougall, A. S.; Vanzant, B.; Sulik, J.; Bagchi, S.; Naidu, D.; Muraina, T. O.; Seabloom, E. W.; Borer, E. T.; Wilfahrt, P.; Slette, I.; Graff, Barbara Pamela; Peri, Pablo Luis; Quiroga, Raul Emiliano; Siewert, M. B.
Año de publicación
2026
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
Land cover data are commonly used to model the terrestrial carbon (C) sink, yet these data have wide margins of error that significantly alter estimates of global C storage. Here we demonstrate this data vulnerability in grasslands, which are critical to C cycling but whose estimated distribution has varied by >50 million km2 (3.5–42% of the Earth’s terrestrial surface). Comparing multiple high-resolution land cover products with expertly annotated grassland data from six continents, we show sources of mapping error and discuss C implications based on 2023 United Nations (UN) FAO estimates. Past misidentification arose from inconsistent definitions on grassland identity and classification flaws especially relating to woody plant cover. Correcting these errors adjusted grassland coverage to 22.8% of the terrestrial land base (30.1 million km2 ), elevating UN projections of soil C stocks to 155.02 Pg (0–30 cm depth). These findings underscore the challenges of biome mapping for ecosystem accounting and policy, when lacking field-validated remotely sensed data.
EEA Cesáreo Naredo
Fil: MacDougall, A. S. University of Guelph. Department of Integrative Biology; Canadá
Fil: Vanzant, B. University of Guelph. Department of Integrative Biology; Canadá
Fil: Sulik, J. University of Guelph. Department of Plant Agriculture; Canadá
Fil: Bagchi, S. Indian Institute of Science. Centre for Ecological Sciences; India
Fil: Naidu, D. Indian Institute of Science. Centre for Ecological Sciences; India
Fil: Naidu, D. Indian Institute for Human Settlements. School of Environment and Sustainability; India
Fil: Muraina, T. O. Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technolog. Department of Animal Health and Production; Nigeria
Fil: Muraina, T. O. Texas State University. Department of Biology; Estados Unidos
Fil: Seabloom, E. W. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior; Estados Unidos
Fil: Borer, E. T. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior; Estados Unidos
Fil: Wilfahrt, P. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior; Estados Unidos
Fil: Slette, I. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior; Estados Unidos
Fil: Graff, Barbara Pamela. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Cesáreo Naredo. Agencia de Extensión Rural Coronel Suárez; Argentina
Fil: Graff, Barbara Pamela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET); Argentina
Fil: Graff, Barbara Pamela. Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA). Facultad de Agronomía; Argentina
Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz; Argentina
Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET); Argentina
Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral (UNPA); Argentina
Fil: Quiroga, Raul Emiliano. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Catamarca; Argentina
Fil: Siewert, M. B. Umeå University. Department of Ecology and Environmental Science (EMG). Climate Impacts Research Centre (CIRC); Suecia
Fuente
Nature Ecology & Evolution 10(2) : 246-257. (February 2026)
Materia
Praderas
Cobertura de Suelos
Sumidero de Carbono
Cartografía de la Cubierta Vegetal
Mundo
Teledetección
Grasslands
Land Cover
Carbon Sinks
Land Cover Mapping
World
Remote Sensing
Terrestrial Carbon Sink
Grassland Biome
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso restringido
Condiciones de uso
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Repositorio
INTA Digital (INTA)
Institución
Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria
OAI Identificador
oai:localhost:20.500.12123/25244
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network_name_str INTA Digital (INTA)
spelling The global extent of the grassland biome and implications for the terrestrial carbon sinkMacDougall, A. S.Vanzant, B.Sulik, J.Bagchi, S.Naidu, D.Muraina, T. O.Seabloom, E. W.Borer, E. T.Wilfahrt, P.Slette, I.Graff, Barbara PamelaPeri, Pablo LuisQuiroga, Raul EmilianoSiewert, M. B.PraderasCobertura de SuelosSumidero de CarbonoCartografía de la Cubierta VegetalMundoTeledetecciónGrasslandsLand CoverCarbon SinksLand Cover MappingWorldRemote SensingTerrestrial Carbon SinkGrassland BiomeLand cover data are commonly used to model the terrestrial carbon (C) sink, yet these data have wide margins of error that significantly alter estimates of global C storage. Here we demonstrate this data vulnerability in grasslands, which are critical to C cycling but whose estimated distribution has varied by >50 million km2 (3.5–42% of the Earth’s terrestrial surface). Comparing multiple high-resolution land cover products with expertly annotated grassland data from six continents, we show sources of mapping error and discuss C implications based on 2023 United Nations (UN) FAO estimates. Past misidentification arose from inconsistent definitions on grassland identity and classification flaws especially relating to woody plant cover. Correcting these errors adjusted grassland coverage to 22.8% of the terrestrial land base (30.1 million km2 ), elevating UN projections of soil C stocks to 155.02 Pg (0–30 cm depth). These findings underscore the challenges of biome mapping for ecosystem accounting and policy, when lacking field-validated remotely sensed data.EEA Cesáreo NaredoFil: MacDougall, A. S. University of Guelph. Department of Integrative Biology; CanadáFil: Vanzant, B. University of Guelph. Department of Integrative Biology; CanadáFil: Sulik, J. University of Guelph. Department of Plant Agriculture; CanadáFil: Bagchi, S. Indian Institute of Science. Centre for Ecological Sciences; IndiaFil: Naidu, D. Indian Institute of Science. Centre for Ecological Sciences; IndiaFil: Naidu, D. Indian Institute for Human Settlements. School of Environment and Sustainability; IndiaFil: Muraina, T. O. Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technolog. Department of Animal Health and Production; NigeriaFil: Muraina, T. O. Texas State University. Department of Biology; Estados UnidosFil: Seabloom, E. W. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior; Estados UnidosFil: Borer, E. T. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior; Estados UnidosFil: Wilfahrt, P. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior; Estados UnidosFil: Slette, I. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior; Estados UnidosFil: Graff, Barbara Pamela. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Cesáreo Naredo. Agencia de Extensión Rural Coronel Suárez; ArgentinaFil: Graff, Barbara Pamela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET); ArgentinaFil: Graff, Barbara Pamela. Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA). Facultad de Agronomía; ArgentinaFil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz; ArgentinaFil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET); ArgentinaFil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral (UNPA); ArgentinaFil: Quiroga, Raul Emiliano. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Catamarca; ArgentinaFil: Siewert, M. B. Umeå University. Department of Ecology and Environmental Science (EMG). Climate Impacts Research Centre (CIRC); SueciaSpringer Nature2026-02-19T15:02:10Z2026-02-19T15:02:10Z2026-02info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/25244https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-025-02955-62397-334X (online)https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-025-02955-6Nature Ecology & Evolution 10(2) : 246-257. (February 2026)reponame:INTA Digital (INTA)instname:Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuariaenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccesshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)2026-02-26T11:47:42Zoai:localhost:20.500.12123/25244instacron:INTAInstitucionalhttp://repositorio.inta.gob.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://repositorio.inta.gob.ar/oai/requesttripaldi.nicolas@inta.gob.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:l2026-02-26 11:47:42.82INTA Digital (INTA) - Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuariafalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv The global extent of the grassland biome and implications for the terrestrial carbon sink
title The global extent of the grassland biome and implications for the terrestrial carbon sink
spellingShingle The global extent of the grassland biome and implications for the terrestrial carbon sink
MacDougall, A. S.
Praderas
Cobertura de Suelos
Sumidero de Carbono
Cartografía de la Cubierta Vegetal
Mundo
Teledetección
Grasslands
Land Cover
Carbon Sinks
Land Cover Mapping
World
Remote Sensing
Terrestrial Carbon Sink
Grassland Biome
title_short The global extent of the grassland biome and implications for the terrestrial carbon sink
title_full The global extent of the grassland biome and implications for the terrestrial carbon sink
title_fullStr The global extent of the grassland biome and implications for the terrestrial carbon sink
title_full_unstemmed The global extent of the grassland biome and implications for the terrestrial carbon sink
title_sort The global extent of the grassland biome and implications for the terrestrial carbon sink
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv MacDougall, A. S.
Vanzant, B.
Sulik, J.
Bagchi, S.
Naidu, D.
Muraina, T. O.
Seabloom, E. W.
Borer, E. T.
Wilfahrt, P.
Slette, I.
Graff, Barbara Pamela
Peri, Pablo Luis
Quiroga, Raul Emiliano
Siewert, M. B.
author MacDougall, A. S.
author_facet MacDougall, A. S.
Vanzant, B.
Sulik, J.
Bagchi, S.
Naidu, D.
Muraina, T. O.
Seabloom, E. W.
Borer, E. T.
Wilfahrt, P.
Slette, I.
Graff, Barbara Pamela
Peri, Pablo Luis
Quiroga, Raul Emiliano
Siewert, M. B.
author_role author
author2 Vanzant, B.
Sulik, J.
Bagchi, S.
Naidu, D.
Muraina, T. O.
Seabloom, E. W.
Borer, E. T.
Wilfahrt, P.
Slette, I.
Graff, Barbara Pamela
Peri, Pablo Luis
Quiroga, Raul Emiliano
Siewert, M. B.
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Praderas
Cobertura de Suelos
Sumidero de Carbono
Cartografía de la Cubierta Vegetal
Mundo
Teledetección
Grasslands
Land Cover
Carbon Sinks
Land Cover Mapping
World
Remote Sensing
Terrestrial Carbon Sink
Grassland Biome
topic Praderas
Cobertura de Suelos
Sumidero de Carbono
Cartografía de la Cubierta Vegetal
Mundo
Teledetección
Grasslands
Land Cover
Carbon Sinks
Land Cover Mapping
World
Remote Sensing
Terrestrial Carbon Sink
Grassland Biome
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv Land cover data are commonly used to model the terrestrial carbon (C) sink, yet these data have wide margins of error that significantly alter estimates of global C storage. Here we demonstrate this data vulnerability in grasslands, which are critical to C cycling but whose estimated distribution has varied by >50 million km2 (3.5–42% of the Earth’s terrestrial surface). Comparing multiple high-resolution land cover products with expertly annotated grassland data from six continents, we show sources of mapping error and discuss C implications based on 2023 United Nations (UN) FAO estimates. Past misidentification arose from inconsistent definitions on grassland identity and classification flaws especially relating to woody plant cover. Correcting these errors adjusted grassland coverage to 22.8% of the terrestrial land base (30.1 million km2 ), elevating UN projections of soil C stocks to 155.02 Pg (0–30 cm depth). These findings underscore the challenges of biome mapping for ecosystem accounting and policy, when lacking field-validated remotely sensed data.
EEA Cesáreo Naredo
Fil: MacDougall, A. S. University of Guelph. Department of Integrative Biology; Canadá
Fil: Vanzant, B. University of Guelph. Department of Integrative Biology; Canadá
Fil: Sulik, J. University of Guelph. Department of Plant Agriculture; Canadá
Fil: Bagchi, S. Indian Institute of Science. Centre for Ecological Sciences; India
Fil: Naidu, D. Indian Institute of Science. Centre for Ecological Sciences; India
Fil: Naidu, D. Indian Institute for Human Settlements. School of Environment and Sustainability; India
Fil: Muraina, T. O. Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technolog. Department of Animal Health and Production; Nigeria
Fil: Muraina, T. O. Texas State University. Department of Biology; Estados Unidos
Fil: Seabloom, E. W. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior; Estados Unidos
Fil: Borer, E. T. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior; Estados Unidos
Fil: Wilfahrt, P. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior; Estados Unidos
Fil: Slette, I. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior; Estados Unidos
Fil: Graff, Barbara Pamela. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Cesáreo Naredo. Agencia de Extensión Rural Coronel Suárez; Argentina
Fil: Graff, Barbara Pamela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET); Argentina
Fil: Graff, Barbara Pamela. Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA). Facultad de Agronomía; Argentina
Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz; Argentina
Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET); Argentina
Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral (UNPA); Argentina
Fil: Quiroga, Raul Emiliano. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Catamarca; Argentina
Fil: Siewert, M. B. Umeå University. Department of Ecology and Environmental Science (EMG). Climate Impacts Research Centre (CIRC); Suecia
description Land cover data are commonly used to model the terrestrial carbon (C) sink, yet these data have wide margins of error that significantly alter estimates of global C storage. Here we demonstrate this data vulnerability in grasslands, which are critical to C cycling but whose estimated distribution has varied by >50 million km2 (3.5–42% of the Earth’s terrestrial surface). Comparing multiple high-resolution land cover products with expertly annotated grassland data from six continents, we show sources of mapping error and discuss C implications based on 2023 United Nations (UN) FAO estimates. Past misidentification arose from inconsistent definitions on grassland identity and classification flaws especially relating to woody plant cover. Correcting these errors adjusted grassland coverage to 22.8% of the terrestrial land base (30.1 million km2 ), elevating UN projections of soil C stocks to 155.02 Pg (0–30 cm depth). These findings underscore the challenges of biome mapping for ecosystem accounting and policy, when lacking field-validated remotely sensed data.
publishDate 2026
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2026-02-19T15:02:10Z
2026-02-19T15:02:10Z
2026-02
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/25244
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-025-02955-6
2397-334X (online)
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-025-02955-6
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/25244
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-025-02955-6
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-025-02955-6
identifier_str_mv 2397-334X (online)
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
eu_rights_str_mv restrictedAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Springer Nature
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Springer Nature
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Nature Ecology & Evolution 10(2) : 246-257. (February 2026)
reponame:INTA Digital (INTA)
instname:Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria
reponame_str INTA Digital (INTA)
collection INTA Digital (INTA)
instname_str Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria
repository.name.fl_str_mv INTA Digital (INTA) - Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria
repository.mail.fl_str_mv tripaldi.nicolas@inta.gob.ar
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