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And the biomes of the world 


See below for carbon totals. 


Biome layers are drawn from Trumper K, Bertzky M, Dickson B van der Heijden G, Jenkins M Manning P - June 2009. The Natural Fix? The Role of Ecosystems in Climate Mitigation A UNEP rapid response assessment. United Nations Environment Programme UNEPWCMC Cambridge UK. 


Carbon estimates combine a dataset of carbon stored in live biomass (Ruech and Gibbs 2008) with a dataset of soil to Im depth (IGBP-DIS 2000). Estimates are for carbon in living organisms above and below ground, in litter and in soil organic matter.

Gigatonnes of carbon stored:

Tundra: 155.4 Gt C

Boreal Forest: 384.2  Gt C

Temporate Forest: 314.9 Gt C

Temporate Grasslands: 183.7 Gt C

Tropical and Subtropical Forest: 547.8 Gt C

Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands: 285.3 Gt C 

Deserts and Dry Scrubland: 170.0 Gt C

TOTAL: 20041.3 Gt C (2.04 Teratonnes) 

NB This map omits Lakes 0.98 Gt C Rock and Ice 1.47 Gt C and Oceans 38,400 Gt C