![[Translate to English:] icon eigenschaften der ökosysteme](/fileadmin/_processed_/3/0/csm_icon_oesd_grey_eigenschaften_65e5475268.png){kind=icon}
In the efforts to combat global climate change, preserving natural carbon sinks is particular important. Knowledge of these sinks should be helpful for implementing appropriate measures.
Soils are the largest carbon sinks in Germany's ecosystems, especially organic soils such as peatlands. However, ecosystems' (living and dead) biomass also contains considerable amounts of carbon, and all these quantities are included with this indicator.
To map the sequestered carbon, we provide the ecosystem condition indicator "carbon content in ecosystems". This value for the storage content is a status variable closely linked to the ecosystem service "Greenhouse gas sequestration and emission" (per year), for which another indicator is available under the regulating ecosystem services.
In 2018, the ecosystems in Germany contained approximately 4.6 billion tonnes of carbon. The highest stocks are located in Bavaria (0.9 billion tonnes of C) and Lower Saxony (0.3 billion tonnes of C). The ecosystem carbon content in ecosystems is modelled as the current total content (absolute or per hectare of pure carbon, which is different from CO2).
Peatland ecosystems stand out with the highest values, as their high below-ground carbon content varies only slightly due to the vegetation growing on them. Medium values are found in humid lowlands (mostly under grassland) and in the forests of the low mountain ranges, but also in the lowlands; here, a larger proportion of the carbon stock is found above ground. Agricultural areas with a low proportion of grassland and few fruit or permanent crops in the centre of Germany have the relatively lowest carbon stocks.
The carbon stock indicator reveals that ecosystems on mineral soils in Germany store a total of 3.5 times more carbon than the peatlands. Besides ensuring consistent peatland protection, it is crucial to maintain and improve the stocks of the more extensive mineral soils and to promote carbon sequestration instead of greenhouse gas emissions. This can be achieved through adapted land use and soil protection. Land use and landscape conservation contribute to climate protection, which can be quantified with this indicator and should be strategically utilized.
For the carbon stock status indicator, the total stocks were calculated separately for organic and mineral soils as well as for individual land use types. Data from the general soil map 1:250,000 (BÜK250) were used to estimate the soil carbon content. The calculation involved analyzing the characteristics of humus content and the soil's specific gravity of the individual soil horizons. The basic geo-data on ecosystem types is derived from the national land cover model (LBM-DE) from the national federal agency of cartography and geodesy (BKG).
Key information on carbon stocks was extracted from the National Inventory Report on the German Greenhouse Gas Inventory (NIR), as it contains the results of comprehensive monitoring programmes in the agricultural and forestry sectors. Data from the BÜK250 and the ecosystem types were integrated, and carbon content was determined for mineral and organic soils and harmonised with the NIR figures. The carbon contents in the above-ground and below-ground plant biomass, as balanced in the NIR, were added to the corrected soil carbon contents. This process resulted in a total carbon stock for each ecosystem, differentiated by soil and land use types.