Dataset Information

The stage-classified matrix models project a significant increase in biomass carbon stocks in China's forests between 2005 and 2050.

ABSTRACT: China's forests are characterized by young age, low carbon (C) density and a large plantation area, implying a high potential for increasing C sinks in the future. Using data of provincial forest area and biomass C density from China's forest inventories between 1994 and 2008 and the planned forest coverage of the country by 2050, we developed a stage-classified matrix model to predict biomass C stocks of China's forests from 2005 to 2050. The results showed that total forest biomass C stock would increase from 6.43?Pg C (1 Pg?=?10(15)?g) in 2005 to 9.97 Pg C (95% confidence interval: 8.98?~?11.07?Pg C) in 2050, with an overall net C gain of 78.8?Tg C yr(-1) (56.7?~?103.3?Tg C yr(-1); 1 Tg?=?10(12)?g). Our findings suggest that China's forests will be a large and persistent biomass C sink through 2050.

SUBMITTER: Hu H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4480144 | biostudies-other | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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The stage-classified matrix models project a significant increase in biomass carbon stocks in China's forests between 2005 and 2050.

Hu Huifeng H Wang Shaopeng S Guo Zhaodi Z Xu Bing B Fang Jingyun J

Scientific reports 20150625

China's forests are characterized by young age, low carbon (C) density and a large plantation area, implying a high potential for increasing C sinks in the future. Using data of provincial forest area and biomass C density from China's forest inventories between 1994 and 2008 and the planned forest coverage of the country by 2050, we developed a stage-classified matrix model to predict biomass C stocks of China's forests from 2005 to 2050. The results showed that total forest biomass C stock wou ...[more]

PMID: 26110831

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Project description:Subtropical planted forests are rapidly expanding. They are traditionally managed for intensive, short-term goals that often lead to long-term yield decline and reduced carbon sequestration capacity. Here we show how it is possible to increase and sustain carbon stored in subtropical forest plantations if management is switched towards more sustainable forestry. We first conducted a literature review to explore possible management factors that contribute to the potentials in ecosystem C in tropical and subtropical plantations. We found that broadleaves plantations have significantly higher ecosystem C than conifer plantations. In addition, ecosystem C increases with plantation age, and reaches a peak with intermediate stand densities of 1500-2500 trees ha⁻¹. We then used the FORECAST model to simulate the regional implications of switching from traditional to sustainable management regimes, using Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) plantations in subtropical China as a study case. We randomly simulated 200 traditional short-rotation pure stands and 200 sustainably-managed mixed Chinese fir--Phoebe bournei plantations, for 120 years. Our results showed that mixed, sustainably-managed plantations have on average 67.5% more ecosystem C than traditional pure conifer plantations. If all pure plantations were gradually transformed into mixed plantations during the next 10 years, carbon stocks could rise in 2050 by 260.22 TgC in east-central China. Assuming similar differences for temperate and boreal plantations, if sustainable forestry practices were applied to all new forest plantation types in China, stored carbon could increase by 1,482.80 TgC in 2050. Such an increase would be equivalent to a yearly sequestration rate of 40.08 TgC yr⁻¹, offsetting 1.9% of China's annual emissions in 2010. More importantly, this C increase can be sustained in the long term through the maintenance of higher amounts of soil organic carbon and the production of timber products with longer life spans.

Dataset Information

The stage-classified matrix models project a significant increase in biomass carbon stocks in China's forests between 2005 and 2050.

Publications

The stage-classified matrix models project a significant increase in biomass carbon stocks in China's forests between 2005 and 2050.

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