Major World Ecosystem Complexes Ranked by Carbon in Live Vegetation


In the table below, minimum, medium, and maximum carbon densities were taken from Table 5 in Olson et al. (1983). The revised medium carbon densities were taken from Table 1 in Olson et al. (1985) and were specified by J. S. Olson at the time of publication of Olson et al. (1985). "Color-Id" refers to the World Ecosystem Complexes shown in the above figure. Updated information (NDP-17b) is also available which entailed use of the GLC2000 Land Cover Product.

Color-Id Ecosystem complexes Gridcell count (0.5°) Medium carbon density (Kg C/m2) Revised medium carbon density (Kg C/m2) Minimum carbon density (Kg C/m2) Maximum carbon density (Kg C/m2) Ecosystem codes
1 Conifers 1719 16.00 13.00 12.0 20.0 22,27
2 Tropical/Subtropical Broad-leaved Humid Forest 3430 15.00 12.00 4.0 25.0 29,33,73
3 Southern Taiga 903 11.00 8.00 6.0 14.0 60,61
4 Mid-Latitude Mixed Woods (Deciduous/Evergreen/Conifer) 1589 10.00 7.00 6.0 14.0 23,24
5 Mid-Latitude Temperate Broad-leaved Forest 676 10.00 9.00 8.0 14.0 25,26
6 Main Boreal Taiga 3579 8.00 6.00 4.0 11.0 20,21
7 Tropical/Subtropical Dry Forest and Woodland 1584 7.00 6.00 5.0 9.0 32
8 Second Growth Forest/Fields (Tropical/Subtropical Humid, Temperate/Boreal Forests) 2232 5.00 4.00 4.0 8.0 56,57
9 Semi-arid Woodland or Low Forest 324 5.00 4.00 2.0 10.0 48
10 Northern or Maritime Taiga, Subalpine 3175 5.00 5.00 2.0 8.0 62
11 Tropical Montane Complexes 394 5.00 5.00 1.0 15.0 28
12 Second Growth Field/Woods (Tropical/Temperate Woods, Fields/Grass/Scrub) 1680 4.00 3.00 2.0 5.0 55,58
13 Succulent and Thorn Woods and Scrub 1350 4.00 3.00 2.0 6.0 59
14 Mediterranean Types & Dry, Highland Woods 1374 4.00 3.00 2.0 8.0 46,47
15 Warm or Hot Wetlands 546 3.00 2.00 1.0 6.0 45,72
16 Paddyland 697 3.00 3.00 2.0 4.0 36
17 Tropical Savanna and Woodland (Interrupted Woods) 2229 3.00 3.00 2.0 5.0 43
18 Shore and Hinterland Complexes 403 3.00 3.00 0.0 10.0 65,66,67,68
19 Other Irrigated Dryland 627 2.00 2.00 1.0 3.0 37,38,39
20 Wooded Tundra 1236 2.00 2.00 1.0 5.0 63
21 Bog/Mire of Cool or Cold Climates 576 2.00 2.00 1.0 6.0 44
22 Heath and Moorland 72 1.50 1.00 1.0 2.0 64
23 Warm or Hot Shrub and Grassland (Marginal Lands) 6400 1.30 0.90 0.5 3.0 41
24 Cool or Cold Farms, Towns 1477 1.00 0.70 0.4 2.0 30
25 Warm/Hot Farms, Towns, Cool Grass/Scrub 5553 1.00 0.80 0.6 2.0 31,40
26 Tibetan Meadows, Siberian Highlands 425 1.00 1.00 0.5 4.0 42
27 Cool Semidesert Scrub 930 0.60 0.60 0.3 1.0 52
28 Tundra, Arctic Desert and Ice 10561 0.50 0.50 0.0 1.2 53,54,69,70
29 Non-Polar Desert and Semidesert, Sparse Vegetation 4070 0.40 0.30 0.2 1.0 51,71,49
30 Non-Polar Sand Desert 1930 0.05 0.05 0.0 0.2 50
31 Water Bodies 172495 0.00 0.00 0.0 0.0 0
32 Antarctica 24964 0.00 0.00 0.0 0.0 17

Olson, J. S., J. A. Watts, and L. J. Allison, 1985. Major World Ecosystem Complexes Ranked by Carbon in Live Vegetation (NDP-017). Carbon Dioxide Information Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Olson, J. S., J. A. Watts, and L. J. Allison. 1983. Carbon in Live Vegetation of Major World Ecosystems (ORNL-5862). Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

rmc 11/2000
ASCII matrix data file: ndp017.dat
compressed flat ASCII data file: ndp017.dat.Z
documentation file for ASCII data files: ndp017.txt
compressed ARC/INFO data file: olson-carbon.e00.Z
documentation file for ARC/INFO data files: ndp017gis.doc