Eddy covariance and biometric measurements show that a savanna ecosystem in Southwest China is a carbon sink.

Savanna ecosystems play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle. However, there is a gap in our understanding of carbon fluxes in the savanna ecosystems of Southeast Asia. In this study, the eddy covariance technique (EC) and the biometric-based method (BM) were used to determine carbon exchange in a savanna ecosystem in Southwest China. The BM-based net ecosystem production (NEP) was 0.96 tC ha yr. The EC-based estimates of the average annual gross primary productivity (GPP), ecosystem respiration (R), and net ecosystem carbon exchange (NEE) were 6.84, 5.54, and -1.30 tC ha yr, respectively, from May 2013 to December 2015, indicating that this savanna ecosystem acted as an appreciable carbon sink. The ecosystem was more efficient during the wet season than the dry season, so that it represented a small carbon sink of 0.16 tC ha yr in the dry season and a considerable carbon sink of 1.14 tC ha yr in the wet season. However, it is noteworthy that the carbon sink capacity may decline in the future under rising temperatures and decreasing rainfall. Consequently, further studies should assess how environmental factors and climate change will influence carbon-water fluxes.