Forest ecosystem carbon on public lands of the United States
- Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland, OR (United States)
Increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has prompted nations to investigate strategies to mitigate emissions. One set of strategies involves sequestering carbon in forests, and this requires a way to estimate and project the forest ecosystem carbon budget for all forestland under a range of potential policy options. Carbon was estimated and projected using the FORCARB model, linked to ATLAS, the Aggregate Timberland Assessment System. FORCARB estimates carbon in live trees, detrital wood, forest floor, and soil, and ATLAS tracks timber inventory in terms of volume and land area. Together, these models account for the effects of existing forest inventories, forest growth, land use changes, and harvesting on carbon sequestered on public lands. Forests on both federal and non-federal public lands comprise at least 40% of the forests in the U.S. by land area, and contain a significant portion of the forest carbon budget. Changes in harvesting and fire suppression strategies on public lands noticeably affect the forest carbon budget of the U.S.
- OSTI ID:
- 95802
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9507129-; ISSN 0012-9623; TRN: 95:004728-0067
- Journal Information:
- Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, Vol. 76, Issue 2; Conference: 80. anniversary of the transdisciplinary nature of ecology, Snowbird, UT (United States), 30 Jul - 3 Aug 1995; Other Information: PBD: Jun 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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