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

C W Woodall; B F Walters; J W Coulston; A W D'Amato; G M Domke; M B Russell; P A Sowers

doi:10.1038/srep17028

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

Sci Rep. 2015 Dec 7:5:17028. doi: 10.1038/srep17028.

Authors

C W Woodall¹, B F Walters¹, J W Coulston², A W D'Amato³, G M Domke¹, M B Russell⁴, P A Sowers¹

Affiliations

¹ USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Forest Inventory and Analysis Program, St. Paul, MN, USA.
² USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Forest Inventory and Analysis Program, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
³ University of Vermont, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, Burlington, VT, USA.
⁴ University of Minnesota, Department of Forest Resources, St. Paul, MN, USA.

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. Long-term LU planning exercises and policy development that seeks to maintain and/or enhance regional C sinks should explicitly recognize the importance of maximizing non-forest to forest LU changes and not overlook management and conservation of forests located in landscapes not currently dominated by forests.