Monitoring Network Confirms Land Use Change is a Substantial Component of the Forest Carbon Sink in the eastern United States.

ABSTRACT: Quantifying forest carbon (C) stocks and stock change within a matrix of land use (LU) and LU change is a central component of large-scale forest C monitoring and reporting practices prescribed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Using a region-wide, repeated forest inventory, forest C stocks and stock change by pool were examined by LU categories. In eastern US forests, LU change is a substantial component of C sink strength (~37% of forest sink strength) only secondary to that of C accumulation in forests remaining forest where their comingling with other LUs does not substantially reduce sink strength. The strongest sinks of forest C were study areas not completely dominated by forests, even when there was some loss of forest to agriculture/settlement/other LUs. Lon

SUBMITTER: Woodall CW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4671014 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature