The carbon sink potential of southern China after two decades of afforestation

Geological data were provided by China Geological Survey in shapefile with lithology and lithological age in the attribute table. The "class" means the lithology class, where "1" denotes a classification dominated by Dolomite; "2" is a classification dominated by Limestone; "3" represents a classification dominated by Clastic; "4" means water and "5" denotes a classification dominated by Carbonate rocks. "symbol" represents the lithological age.

Hydrological data is available at https://www.webmap.cn/commres.do?method=result25W in shapefile with 3 elements: rivers, lakes, springs and so on. "HYDA" represents the lakes, "HYDL" is rivers, and "HYDP" is springs and wells.

Climate data include mean annual precipitation (MAP, mm), mean annual temperature (MAT, °C), aridity index (aridity), humidity index (im), >0°C accumulated temperature (aat0dem, °C-days) and >10°C accumulated temperature (aat10dem, °C-days). MAP and MAT are at a resolution of 1km x 1km from 2000-2015. Aridity index (aridity), humidity index (im), >0°C accumulated temperature (aat0dem, °C-days) and >10°C accumulated temperature (aat10dem, °C-days) are at a resolution of 500m x 500m.

Soil properties are also available at the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (https://www.resdc.cn/) at a resolution of 1km x 1km.  Where names of the soil order codes represent as follows: 10: Alfisols. 11: Semi-alfisol. 13: Xerosol. 15: Primitive soil. 16: Semi-hydric soil. 17: Hydric soil. 18: Saline-alkali soil. 19: Anthrosols. 20: Alpine soil. 21: Ferralsols. 22: Cities. 23: Rocks. 24: Lakes and reservoirs. 25: Rivers. 26: Sand bars and islands in rivers. 27: Glacier and snow cover. 28: Coral reefs and sea islands. 30: Coastal salt farm/aquaculture farm. Soil texture includes clay content (%), silt content (%), and sand content (%).

DEM (ASTGTM2_dem) is also available at the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (https://www.resdc.cn/) at a resolution of 30m x 30m.

This dataset is the percentage of above-ground biomass carbon carrying capacity reached in the eight provinces of southern China and in different forest types from 2002 to 2017 at the resolution of 500m x 500m, with the urban and water areas, cropland, and the southeast margin of the Tibet Plateau masked. The dataset takes values ranging from 0%-100%. 0% represents the highest carbon sequestration potential, while 100% represents carbon sequestration has reached saturation. The dataset can locate areas where vegetation has not yet reached its full potential, which is significant for the implementation and adjustment of ecological engineering. The dataset is publicly available.