Document: CHR-3-66-30

Carbon uptake in forests of Eurasia and North America.

GOODALE, C.L.* and MEMBERSOFTHENCEASCARBONWORKINGGROUP

Carnegie Institution of Washington, Stanford, CA 94305 USA ¹

Abstract:
Modeled estimates of global sinks and sources of carbon disagree over the magnitude of terrestrial carbon uptake in the northern hemisphere. Forest inventories throughout Europe, Asia, and North America provide extensive, detailed measurements of key components of terrestrial C budgets, including: forest stocks, growth, mortality, and harvests. Yet forest inventory data do not directly quantify all forest C pools (e.g., woody debris or soils), and different assumptions regarding conversion factors or the behavior of unmeasured pools has led to large discrepancies in estimated net forest C uptake. Previous estimates have made varying assumptions regarding these terms, or have excluded them altogether. We have adopted a common framework for interpreting inventory growth data, for quantifying the fate of harvested materials, and for estimating C fluxes to and from dead wood and soil pools. The estimates integrate databases specific to Canada, China, Europe, Russia, and the United States, with adjustments to make the data from each region as comparable as possible.This effort is the first step in a project to reconcile model-based and inventory-based approaches to understanding carbon sinks in the terrestrial biosphere.

Keywords: carbon sequestration, forest inventory

This abstract is being presented at: 11:30 AM in session:
Oral Session #1: Plant Carbon Allocation.