Assessment of carbon stocks and influencing factors in terrestrial ecosystems based on surface area

Summary: The topography of the border ecological barrier area in southern Yunnan is complex, and utilizing the vertically projected area to estimate carbon stocks may lead to significant errors. This study uses multisource data and multiple models to investigate the spatial and temporal variations in surface carbon stocks and the factors affecting them in the study area. Results show: The difference between the surface area and planar area in the study area is large, and the spatial and temporal changes of surface land use and carbon stock based on this are more significant, showing an inverted V-shape trend in time and a spatial distribution pattern of “high southeast, low northwest”. NDVI and slope were the dominant factors. The results of this study provide a new surface-scale perspective for a deeper understanding of carbon stock and land-use planning in the mountainous region represented by the border ecological zone in southern Yunnan.