PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #2: Carbon Storage.
Monday, August 5. Presentation from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM. Exhibit Hall B & C, TCC

The contribution of down dead wood to carbon stocks in New England forests.

HEATH, LINDA^*,1, INNES, JAMES², SMITH, JAMES², ¹ USDA Forest Service, Durham, NH² USDA Forest Service, Durham, NH

ABSTRACT- Complete forest carbon budgets are needed to understand forest carbon cycling, and for reporting carbon sequestration for possible carbon credits or for international greenhouse gas emissions and sinks reporting requirements. Down dead wood, also called down coarse woody debris, is one component of forest ecosystems that has received little attention regionally in the Eastern U.S. We conducted a study in conjunction with the USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis to collect down dead wood data on forested plots in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Our purpose was to determine the relative contributions of down dead wood to carbon of other forest components, and to determine regional characteristics of down dead wood in New England, under current management. The data were collected on 3,973 plots representing 10.5 million hectares of forest. Results show there is a total of 71.7 MtC in down dead wood, as compared to total aboveground carbon (including forest floor) of 1,377.6 MtC. Down dead wood carbon ranges from 4.1 to 8.7 MgC/ha by forest type, with the lowest density in aspen-birch and the highest in northern hardwoods. Down dead wood carbon decreased as stand size increased, from 8.6 Mg/ha for seedling and sapling stands to 4.8 Mg/ha in mature stands.

KEY WORDS: carbon budgets, coarse woody debris