Can reductions in logging damage increase carbon storage over time? Evaluation of a simulation model for a pilot carbon offset project in Malaysia
- Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)
Selective timber harvesting operations, if uncontrolled, can severely degrade a forest. Although techniques for reducing logging damage are well-known and inexpensive to apply, incentives to adopt these techniques are generally lacking. Power companies and other emitters of {open_quotes}greenhouse{close_quotes} gases soon may be forced to reduce or otherwise offset their net emissions; one offset option is to fund programs aimed at reducing logging damage. To investigate the consequences of reductions in logging damage for ecosystem carbon storage, I constructed a model to simulate changes in biomass and carbon pools following logging of primary dipterocarp forests in southeast Asia. I adapted a physiologically-driven, tree-based model of natural forest gap dynamics (FORMIX) to simulate forest recovery following logging. Input variables included stand structure, volume extracted, stand damage (% stems), and soil disturbance (% area compacted). Output variables included total biomass, tree density, and total carbon storage over time. Assumptions of the model included the following: (1) areas with soil disturbances have elevated probabilities of vine colonization and reduced rates of tree establishment, (2) areas with broken canopy but no soil disturbance are colonized initially by pioneer tree species and 20 yr later by persistent forest species, (3) damaged trees have reduced growth and increased mortality rates. Simulation results for two logging techniques, conventional and reduced-impact logging, are compared with data from field studies conducted within a pilot carbon offset project in Sabah, Malaysia.
- OSTI ID:
- 107132
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9507129-; ISSN 0012-9623; TRN: 95:006512-0048
- Journal Information:
- Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, Vol. 76, Issue 3; Conference: 80. anniversary of the transdisciplinary nature of ecology, Snowbird, UT (United States), 30 Jul - 3 Aug 1995; Other Information: PBD: Sep 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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