carbon storage – Climate, Forests and Woodlands

May 16, 2019May 16, 2019

Urban Forestry and Carbon Storage

Excerpt from: Ryan, M.G., M.E. Harmon, R.A. Birdsey, C.P. Giardina, L.S. Heath, R.A. Houghton, R.B. Jackson, D.C. McKinley, J.F. Morrison, B.C. Murray, D.E. Pataki, and K.E. Skog. 2010. A Synthesis of the Science on Forests and Carbon for U.S. Forests. Issues in Ecology, Report Number 13, Spring 2010.

Urban forestry offers very limited potential to store carbon, but we address urban forests here because of the large interest in using them to offset carbon emissions and because urban trees provide …

May 16, 2019May 16, 2019

Other Factors Influencing Forest Carbon Storage

Excerpt from: Ryan, M.G., M.E. Harmon, R.A. Birdsey, C.P. Giardina, L.S. Heath, R.A. Houghton, R.B. Jackson, D.C. McKinley, J.F. Morrison, B.C. Murray, D.E. Pataki, and K.E. Skog. 2010. A Synthesis of the Science on Forests and Carbon for U.S. Forests. Issues in Ecology, Report Number 13, Spring 2010.

Regional Variations

While the biological processes of photosynthesis, respiration, and decomposition are similar for all forests, their relative importance differs by forest type and location. Some forests grow more rapidly, but dead …

May 16, 2019May 16, 2019

Plant Response to Rising Carbon Dioxide

Adapted from: Lenart, M.; C. Jones; and B. Kimball. 2006. Rising carbon dioxide levels and forest management. University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Publication No. az1395

Plant tissue (including wood) is composed of about half carbon, all of which comes from carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the atmosphere. Photosynthesis rates tend to increase as CO₂ levels rise, leading to an increase in dry weight, or biomass, of plants grown under elevated carbon dioxide levels.

Figure

…

May 16, 2019May 16, 2019

Climate Mitigation by Urban Forests

Planting trees in urban areas can help mitigate carbon dioxide levels because trees can sequester carbon and offset some energy use for cooling, as some studies have illustrated in California.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB32) requires a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. This amounts to a reduction of 173 million metric tons from the level projected for 2020.

Aerial photography revealed 242 million potential sites for planting individual trees …

May 16, 2019May 16, 2019

Carbon Budgets

Excerpt from Ryan, M.G., M.E. Harmon, R.A. Birdsey, C.P. Giardina, L.S. Heath, R.A. Houghton, R.B. Jackson, D.C. McKinley, J.F. Morrison, B.C. Murray, D.E. Pataki, and K.E. Skog. 2010. A Synthesis of the Science on Forests and Carbon for U.S. Forests. Issues in Ecology, Report Number 13, Spring 2010.

Forests store large amounts of carbon in their live and dead wood and soil and play an
active role in controlling the concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere (Figure 1). In …

May 16, 2019May 16, 2019

Forest Carbon Storage

Excerpt from: O’Laughlin, J. and R. Mahoney. 2008. Forests and Carbon. University of Idaho Extension: Woodland Notes. 19: 1 & 4.

Forests affect climate, and climate affects forests, with carbon linking the two. Forests contain three-fourths of the earth’s plant biomass, about half of which is carbon. Consequently, forests play a key role in the global carbon cycle by capturing, storing, and cycling carbon.

Forests can either be a carbon “sink” or a “source” of atmospheric carbon. Trees absorb, …

May 16, 2019May 16, 2019

Increasing Afforestation to Increase Carbon Storage

Excerpt from: Ryan, M.G., M.E. Harmon, R.A. Birdsey, C.P. Giardina, L.S. Heath, R.A. Houghton, R.B. Jackson, D.C. McKinley, J.F. Morrison, B.C. Murray, D.E. Pataki, and K.E. Skog. 2010. A Synthesis of the Science on Forests and Carbon for U.S. Forests. Issues in Ecology, Report Number 13, Spring 2010.

We define afforestation as both reestablishing forests on land that has been without forest cover for some time and the establishment of forest on land that has not previously been forested (note …