English: This image summarizes the total amounts of carbon that are stored in various types of terrestrial ecosystems throughout the Earth. Through photosynthesis, trees and other vegetation have the ability to extract a vast quantity of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, then store it as living biomass (phytomass) both above and below ground. After death, some of this organic carbon remains in the topsoil and subsoils as additional reservoirs of stored carbon.

Image and Description Source Credit:

M. Janowiak; W.J. Connelly; K. Dante-Wood; G.M. Domke; C. Giardina; Z. Kayler; K. Marcinkowski; T. Ontl; C. Rodriguez-Franco; C. Swanston; C.W. Woodall; M. Buford, Considering Forest and Grassland Carbon in Land Management, General Technical Report, Washington Office (WTO-GTR-95), United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, June 2017. https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/54316

Additional Reference:

Scharlemann, J.P.; Edmund, W.; Tanner, V.J.; Hiederer, R.; Kapos, V. 2014. Global soil carbon: understanding and managing the largest terrestrial carbon pool, Carbon Management. 5(1): 81–91. DOI: 10.4155/cmt.13.77