Platform to gauge ecological barrier's role as carbon sink

China plans to build a comprehensive forest carbon sink monitoring platform in the Qinling-Daba Mountains by 2027, offering crucial data on fluctuations in greenhouse gases to inform wider decision-making around carbon emissions reduction.

The Qinling-Daba Mountains serve as a vital ecological barrier in Central China, characterized by complex geographical transitions and high biodiversity. They span warm temperate and subtropical zones, and have a unique biogeographic distribution and significance.

"Leveraging five observation towers from the existing vertical zone research platform, the platform will further be equipped with various near-surface remote sensing instruments for greenhouse gas flux and carbon sink monitoring," said Xu Wenting, a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.