Key message Bastin et al. 2019 use two flawed assumptions: 1) that the area suitable for restoration does not contain any carbon currently, and 2) that soil organic carbon (SOC) from increased canopy cover will accumulate quickly enough to mitigate anthropogenic carbon emissions. We re-evaluated the potential carbon storage worldwide using empirical relationships of tree cover and carbon. We use global datasets of tree cover, soil organic carbon, and above ground biomass to estimate the empirical relationships of tree cover and carbon stock storage. A more realistic range of global carbon storage potential is between 71.7 and 75.7 GtC globally, with a large uncertainty associated with SOC. This is less than half of the original 205 GtC estimate. The potential global carbon storage of restored forests is much less than that estimated by Bastin et al. 2019. While we agree on the value of assessing global reforestation potential, we suggest caution in considering it the most effective strategy to mitigate anthropogenic emissions. A preprint version of this article was published on 13 August 2019 at https://doi.org/10.1101/730325

中文翻译：

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重新思考树木的全球碳储存潜力。对 Bastin 等人的评论。(2019)

关键信息 Bastin 等人。2019 年使用两个有缺陷的假设：1) 目前适合恢复的区域不包含任何碳，2) 冠层覆盖增加的土壤有机碳 (SOC) 将足够快地积累，以减轻人为碳排放。我们使用树木覆盖率和碳的经验关系重新评估了全球潜在的碳储存。我们使用全球树木覆盖、土壤有机碳和地上生物量数据集来估计树木覆盖和碳储量的经验关系。更现实的全球碳储存潜力范围在 71.7 至 75.7 GtC 之间，与 SOC 相关的不确定性很大。这不到最初的 205 GtC 估计值的一半。恢复森林的潜在全球碳储存量远低于 Bastin 等人的估计。2019 年。虽然我们同意评估全球重新造林潜力的价值，但我们建议谨慎考虑将其视为减轻人为排放的最有效策略。本文的预印本于 2019 年 8 月 13 日发布在 https://doi.org/10.1101/730325