Forest carbon exchange dynamics and integrated carbon budget of a subtropical island ecosystem

Small islands are increasingly important in climate change mitigation, but we still know little about how much carbon their ecosystems can absorb. To address the limited understanding of island carbon dynamics and carbon neutrality potential, we combined eddy covariance observations, multiple complementary forest carbon sink estimation approaches, and an island-scale carbon budget assessment. This study provides an integrated assessment of forest carbon sinks and establishes a framework for island-scale carbon budget accounting, thereby informing effective carbon management strategies to achieve carbon neutrality for island ecosystems. The data and scripts supporting the findings of this study are available from the dataset.