Carbon budget of the southeastern u.s. Biota: analysis of historical change in trend from source to sink.

Documentation of settlement patterns and deforestation in the southeastern United States allows evaluation of regional carbon dynamics since A.D. 1750. From 1750 to 1950, the Southeast was a net source for carbon at an average rate of 0.13 gigaton per year. Only in the past 20 to 30 years has increased productivity of commercial forests resulted in a sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide of 0.07 gigaton per year.