I study Earths great cycle of carbon and its interplay with climate and management.
I currently invest much of my time on the study of primary forests, https://www.nateko.lu.se/primary-forest-project.
Video (in swedish) for TV4 Science where I explain the historical characteristics of the carbon cycle and how it may change in a warmer future world.
Publications
Displaying of publications. Sorted by year, then title.
Species and soil wetness shape tree growth responses to warming and drought in boreal old-growth forests
Hanna Axén, Daniel B. Metcalfe, Anders Ahlström, Micael Jonsson
(2026) Environmental Research Communications, 8
ArticleHigher carbon storage in primary than secondary boreal forests in Sweden
Didac Pascual, Gustaf Hugelius, Josep G. Canadell, Jennifer Harden, Robert B. Jackson, et al.
(2026) Science, 391 p.1256-1261
ArticleOld-growth mixed beech-dominated forests continue accumulating carbon with advancing age
Katarína Markuljaková, Marek Svitok, Martin Mikoláš, Jeňýk Hofmeister, Wiliam S. Keeton, et al.
(2026) Forest Ecosystems, 15
ArticleSwedish primary forests: factors behind their persistence and potential suitability as natural baselines
Camille Volle, Geerte Fälthammar-de Jong, Mats Karström, Anders Ahlström
(2026) Landscape Ecology, 41
ArticleIncreasing global ecosystem respiration between 1982 and 2015 from Earth observation-based modelling
Torbern Tagesson, Julia Kelly, Guy Schurgers, Feng Tian, Jonas Ardö, et al.
(2024) Global Ecology and Biogeography, 33 p.116-130
ArticleEmergent temperature sensitivity of soil organic carbon driven by mineral associations
Katerina Georgiou, Charles D. Koven, William R. Wieder, Melannie D. Hartman, William J. Riley, et al.
(2024) Nature Geoscience, 17 p.205-212
ArticleSweden has vast ‘old growth’ forests – but they are being chopped down faster than the Amazon
Anders Ahlström, Pep Canadell
(2024) The Conversation
Specialist publication articlePlanted Forests Greened 7% Slower Than Natural Forests in Southern China Over the Past Forty Years
Zenghui Fan, Jia Sun, Torbern Tagesson, Lunche Wang, Shu Xu, et al.
(2024) Geophysical Research Letters, 51
ArticleMapping of peatlands in the forested landscape of Sweden using lidar-based terrain indices
Lukas Rimondini, Thomas Gumbricht, Anders Ahlström, Gustaf Hugelius
(2023) Earth System Science Data, 15 p.3473-3482
ArticleSoil carbon storage capacity of drylands under altered fire regimes
Adam F.A. Pellegrini, Peter B. Reich, Sarah E. Hobbie, Corli Coetsee, Benjamin Wigley, et al.
(2023) Nature Climate Change, 13 p.1089-1094
ArticleNatural decadal variability of global vegetation growth in relation to major decadal climate modes
Zhengyao Lu, Deliang Chen, Klaus Wyser, Ramón Fuentes-Franco, Stefan Olin, et al.
(2023) Environmental Research Letters, 18
ArticleCanopy responses of Swedish primary and secondary forests to the 2018 drought
Julika Wolf, Johanna Asch, Feng Tian, Katerina Georgiou, Anders Ahlström
(2023) Environmental Research Letters, 18
ArticleProtect old-growth forests in Europe now
Martin Mikoláš, Gianluca Piovesan, Anders Ahlström, Daniel C. Donato, Rhiannon Gloor, et al.
(2023) Science, 380 p.466
LetterTemperature and Tree Size Explain the Mean Time to Fall of Dead Standing Trees across Large Scales
Antje Gärtner, Anna Maria Jönsson, Daniel B. Metcalfe, Thomas A.M. Pugh, Torbern Tagesson, et al.
(2023) Forests, 14
ArticleMatrix Approach to Land Carbon Cycle Modeling
Yiqi Luo, Yuanyuan Huang, Carlos A. Sierra, Jianyang Xia, Anders Ahlström, et al.
(2022) Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 14
Review articleHuman well-being and per capita energy use
Robert B. Jackson, Anders Ahlström, Gustaf Hugelius, Chenghao Wang, Amilcare Porporato, et al.
(2022) Ecosphere, 13
ArticleGlobal stocks and capacity of mineral-associated soil organic carbon
Katerina Georgiou, Robert B. Jackson, Olga Vindušková, Rose Z. Abramoff, Anders Ahlström, et al.
(2022) Nature Communications, 13
ArticleSemiarid ecosystems
Ana Bastos, Victoria Naipal, Anders Ahlström, Natasha MacBean, William Kolby Smith, et al.
(2022) Balancing Greenhouse Gas Budgets: Accounting for Natural and Anthropogenic Flows of CO2 and other Trace Gases , p.311-335
Book chapterWidespread Unquantified Conversion of Old Boreal Forests to Plantations
Anders Ahlström, Josep G. Canadell, Daniel B. Metcalfe
(2022) Earth's Future, 10
ArticleClimate change projections of terrestrial primary productivity over the Hindu Kush Himalayan forests
Halima Usman, Thomas A. M. Pugh, Anders Ahlström, Sofia Baig
(2021) Earth System Dynamics, 12 p.857-870
ArticleThe resilience of Amazon tree cover to past and present drying
Tyler Kukla, Anders Ahlström, S. Yoshi Maezumi, Manuel Chevalier, Zhengyao Lu, et al.
(2021) Global and Planetary Change, 202
ArticleVegetation-Climate Feedbacks Enhance Spatial Heterogeneity of Pan-Amazonian Ecosystem States Under Climate Change
Minchao Wu, Benjamin Smith, Guy Schurgers, Anders Ahlström, Markku Rummukainen
(2021) Geophysical Research Letters, 48
ArticleA physiology-based Earth observation model indicates stagnation in the global gross primary production during recent decades
Torbern Tagesson, Feng Tian, Guy Schurgers, Stephanie Horion, Robert Scholes, et al.
(2021) Global Change Biology, 27 p.836-854
ArticlePrimary productivity of managed and pristine forests in Sweden
Anders Ahlström, Geerte Elisabeth De Jong, Wiebe Nijland, Torbern Tagesson
(2020) Environmental Research Letters, 15
ArticleRecent divergence in the contributions of tropical and boreal forests to the terrestrial carbon sink
Torbern Tagesson, Guy Schurgers, Stéphanie Horion, Philippe Ciais, Feng Tian, et al.
(2020) Nature Ecology and Evolution, 4 p.202–209
ArticleGlobal patterns of terrestrial nitrogen and phosphorus limitation
Enzai Du, César Terrer, Adam F.A. Pellegrini, Anders Ahlström, Caspar J. van Lissa, et al.
(2020) Nature Geoscience, 13 p.221-226
ArticleMinimum carbon uptake controls the interannual variability of ecosystem productivity in tropical evergreen forests
Zhao Li, Anders Ahlström, Feng Tian, Antje Gärtner, Ming Jiang, et al.
(2020) Global and Planetary Change, 195
ArticleApproaching the potential of model-data comparisons of global land carbon storage
Zhendong Wu, Gustaf Hugelius, Yiqi Luo, Benjamin Smith, Jianyang Xia, et al.
(2019) Scientific Reports, 9
ArticleSources of uncertainty in modeled land carbon storage within and across three MIPs : Diagnosis with three new techniques
Sha Zhou, Junyi Liang, Xingjie Luc, Qianyu Lid, Lifen Jiang, et al.
(2018) Journal of Climate, 31 p.2833-2851
ArticleNon-uniform seasonal warming regulates vegetation greening and atmospheric CO2 amplification over northern lands
Zhao Li, Jianyang Xia, Anders Ahlström, Annette Rinke, Charles Koven, et al.
(2018) Environmental Research Letters, 13
ArticleEnhanced peak growth of global vegetation and its key mechanisms
Kun Huang, Jianyang Xia, Yingping Wang, Anders Ahlström, Jiquan Chen, et al.
(2018) Nature Ecology and Evolution, 2 p.1897-1905
ArticlePatchy field sampling biases understanding of climate change impacts across the Arctic
Daniel B. Metcalfe, Thirze D.G. Hermans, Jenny Ahlstrand, Michael Becker, Martin Berggren, et al.
(2018) Nature Ecology and Evolution, 2 p.1443-1448
ArticleSimulated sensitivity of African terrestrial ecosystem photosynthesis to rainfall frequency, intensity, and rainy season length
Kaiyu Guan, Stephen P. Good, Kelly K. Caylor, David Medvigy, Ming Pan, et al.
(2018) Environmental Research Letters, 13
ArticleClimate Sensitivity Controls Uncertainty in Future Terrestrial Carbon Sink
Guy Schurgers, Anders Ahlström, Almut Arneth, Thomas A.M. Pugh, Benjamin Smith
(2018) Geophysical Research Letters, 45 p.4329-4336
ArticleFire frequency drives decadal changes in soil carbon and nitrogen and ecosystem productivity
Adam F.A. Pellegrini, Anders Ahlström, Sarah E. Hobbie, Peter B. Reich, Lars P. Nieradzik, et al.
(2018) Nature, 553 p.194-198
ArticleNetworking our science to characterize the state, vulnerabilities, and management opportunities of soil organic matter
Jennifer W. Harden, Gustaf Hugelius, Anders Ahlström, Joseph C. Blankinship, Ben Bond-Lamberty, et al.
(2018) Global Change Biology, 24 p.e705-e718
ArticleTransient dynamics of terrestrial carbon storage : Mathematical foundation and its applications
Yiqi Luo, Zheng Shi, Xingjie Lu, Jianyang Xia, Junyi Liang, et al.
(2017) Biogeosciences, 14 p.145-161
ArticleWeakening temperature control on the interannual variations of spring carbon uptake across northern lands
Shilong Piao, Zhuo Liu, Tao Wang, Shushi Peng, Philippe Ciais, et al.
(2017) Nature Climate Change, 7 p.359-363
ArticleCarbon cycle responses of semi-arid ecosystems to positive asymmetry in rainfall
Vanessa Haverd, Anders Ahlström, Benjamin Smith, Josep G. Canadell
(2017) Global Change Biology, 23 p.793-800
ArticleCompensatory water effects link yearly global land CO 2 sink changes to temperature
Martin Jung, Markus Reichstein, Christopher R. Schwalm, Chris Huntingford, Stephen Sitch, et al.
(2017) Nature, 541 p.516-520
ArticleThe large influence of climate model bias on terrestrial carbon cycle simulations
Anders Ahlström, Guy Schurgers, Benjamin Smith
(2017) Environmental Research Letters, 12
ArticleImpacts of land use on climate and ecosystem productivity over the Amazon and the South American continent
Minchao Wu, Guy Schurgers, Anders Ahlström, Markku Rummukainen, Paul Miller, et al.
(2017) Environmental Research Letters, 12
ArticleClimate data induced uncertainty in model-based estimations of terrestrial primary productivity
Zhendong Wu, Anders Ahlström, Benjamin Smith, Jonas Ardö, Lars Eklundh, et al.
(2017) Environmental Research Letters, 12
ArticleHydrologic resilience and Amazon productivity
Anders Ahlström, Josep G. Canadell, Guy Schurgers, Minchao Wu, Joseph A. Berry, et al.
(2017) Nature Communications, 8
ArticleThe dry season intensity as a key driver of NPP trends
Guillermo Murray-Tortarolo, Pierre Friedlingstein, Stephen Sitch, Sonia I. Seneviratne, Imogen Fletcher, et al.
(2016) Geophysical Research Letters, 43 p.2632-2639
ArticleToward more realistic projections of soil carbon dynamics by Earth system models
Yiqi Luo, Anders Ahlström, Steven D. Allison, Niels H. Batjes, Victor Brovkin, et al.
(2016) Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 30 p.40-56
ArticleImportance of vegetation dynamics for future terrestrial carbon cycling
Anders Ahlström, Jianyang Xia, Almut Arneth, Yiqi Luo, Benjamin Smith
(2015) Environmental Research Letters, 10
ArticleThe dominant role of semi-arid ecosystems in the trend and variability of the land CO2 sink
Anders Ahlström, Michael R. Raupach, Guy Schurgers, Benjamin Smith, Almut Arneth, et al.
(2015) Science, 348 p.895-899
ArticleRecent changes in the global and regional carbon cycle: analysis of first-order diagnostics
P. J. Rayner, A. Stavert, Marko Scholze, Anders Ahlström, C. E. Allison, et al.
(2015) Biogeosciences, 12 p.835-844
ArticleMulticriteria evaluation of discharge simulation in Dynamic Global Vegetation Models
Hui Yang, Shilong Piao, Zhenzhong Zeng, Philippe Ciais, Yi Yin, et al.
(2015) Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 120 p.7488-7505
ArticleRecent trends and drivers of regional sources and sinks of carbon dioxide
S. Sitch, P. Friedlingstein, N. Gruber, S. D. Jones, G. Murray-Tortarolo, et al.
(2015) Biogeosciences, 12 p.653-679
ArticleSimulated carbon emissions from land-use change are substantially enhanced by accounting for agricultural management
T. A. M. Pugh, A. Arneth, Stefan Olin, Anders Ahlström, A. D. Bayer, et al.
(2015) Environmental Research Letters, 10
ArticleWater-use efficiency and transpiration across European forests during the Anthropocene
David. C. Frank, B. Poulter, M. Saurer, J. Esper, C. Huntingford, et al.
(2015) Nature Climate Change, 5 p.579
ArticleBenchmarking the seasonal cycle of CO2 fluxes simulated by terrestrial ecosystem models
Shushi Peng, Philippe Ciais, Frederic Chevallier, Philippe Peylin, Patricia Cadule, et al.
(2015) Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 29 p.46-64
ArticleRecent changes in the global and regional carbon cycle: analysis of first-order diagnostics
P. J. Rayner, A. Stavert, M. Scholze, Anders Ahlström, C. Allison, et al.
(2014) Biogeosciences Discussions, 11 p.9919-9947
ArticleEvidence for a weakening relationship between interannual temperature variability and northern vegetation activity.
Shilong Piao, Huijuan Nan, Chris Huntingford, Philippe Ciais, Pierre Friedlingstein, et al.
(2014) Nature Communications, 5
ArticleCarbon cycle uncertainty in the Alaskan Arctic
J. B. Fisher, M. Sikka, W. C. Oechel, D. N. Huntzinger, J. R. Melton, et al.
(2014) Biogeosciences, 11 p.4271-4288
ArticleEvaluation of land surface models in reproducing satellite-derived LAI over the high-latitude Northern Hemisphere : Part I: Uncoupled DGVMs
Guillermo Murray-Tortarolo, Alessandro Anav, Pierre Friedlingstein, Stephen Sitch, Shilong Piao, et al.
(2013) Remote Sensing, 5 p.4819-4838
ArticleEvaluation of terrestrial carbon cycle models for their response to climate variability and to CO2 trends
Shilong Piao, Stephen Sitch, Philippe Ciais, Pierre Friedlingstein, Philippe Peylin, et al.
(2013) Global Change Biology, 19 p.2117-2132
ArticleAfrican tropical rainforest net carbon dioxide fluxes in the twentieth century
Joshua B. Fisher, Munish Sikka, Stephen Sitch, Philippe Ciais, Benjamin Poulter, et al.
(2013) Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 368 p.20120376-9
ArticleGCM characteristics explain the majority of uncertainty in projected 21st century terrestrial ecosystem carbon balance
Anders Ahlström, Benjamin Smith, Johan Lindström, Markku Rummukainen, Cintia Bertacchi Uvo
(2013) Biogeosciences, 10 p.1517-1528
ArticleTrends and drivers of regional sources and sinks of carbon dioxide over the past two decades
S. Sitch, P. Friedlingstein, N. Gruber, S. D. Jones, G. Murray-Tortarolo, et al.
(2013) Biogeosciences Discussions, 10 p.20113-20177
ArticleTerrestrial Ecosystem Interactions with Global Climate and Socio-Economics
Anders Ahlström
(2013)
Doctoral Thesis (compilation)The global carbon budget 1959–2011
C. Le Quéré, R. J. Andres, T. Boden, T. Conway, R. A. Houghton, et al.
(2013) Earth System Science Data, 5 p.165-185
ArticleRobustness and uncertainty in terrestrial ecosystem carbon response to CMIP5 climate change projections
Anders Ahlström, Guy Schurgers, Almut Arneth, Benjamin Smith
(2012) Environmental Research Letters, 7
ArticleGCM characteristics explain the majority of uncertainty in projected 21st century terrestrial ecosystem carbon balance
Anders Ahlström, Johan Lindström, Markku Rummukainen, Benjamin Smith, Cintia Bertacchi Uvo
(2012) Biogeosciences Discussions, 9 p.13685-13712
ArticleToo early to infer a global NPP decline since 2000
Anders Ahlström, Paul Miller, Benjamin Smith
(2012) Geophysical Research Letters, 39
ArticleThe carbon budget of terrestrial ecosystems in East Asia over the last two decades
S. L. Piao, A. Ito, S. G. Li, Y. Huang, P. Ciais, et al.
(2012) Biogeosciences, 9 p.3571-3586
ArticleImproved accessibility modeling and its relation to poverty - A case study in Southern Sri Lanka
Anders Ahlström, Petter Pilesjö, Jonas Lindberg
(2011) Habitat International, 35 p.316-326
ArticleUsing PCA and Global Smoothing to Explore Differences between Global Vegetation Models
Johan Lindström, Anders Ahlström, Emma Blom
(2011) Proceedings of the 58th World Statistics Congress of the International Statistical Institute (ISI 2011) , p.3946-3952
Paper in conference proceeding