Carbon Sequestration in Managed Forests

A young densely stocked pine stand exhibiting full site occupancy. This may represent the most lucrative approach to managing forests for carbon credits. Whether this condition is desirable from other perspectives is less clear.
A young densely stocked pine stand exhibiting full site occupancy. This may represent the most lucrative approach to managing forests for carbon credits. Whether this condition is desirable from other perspectives is less clear.

Emerging markets for Ecosystem Services represent potential opportunities for forest landowners to generate revenue streams in addition to, or in lieu of, more traditional sources. The role that forests play in sequestering atmospheric CO2, the dominant greenhouse gas, is increasingly being recognized as a means of helping mitigate the negative impacts of climate change. Forest based carbon is sequestered in a number of different pools, live and dead aboveground biomass, in soils, and more controversially, in harvested wood products and through the displacement of fossil fuels. Our research in this area seeks to answer questions regarding the compatibility of low density management with the frequent use of fire and carbon sequestration objectives.

References

Ray, D., Seymour, R.S., Scott, N.S. and W.S. Keeton. 2009. Mitigating Climate Change with Managed Forests: Balancing Expectations, Opportunity, and Risk. Journal of Forestry. 107(1): 50-51.