A novel approach to optimize management strategies for carbon stored in both forests and wood products

Abstract We present a new approach to maximize carbon (C) storage in both forest and wood products using optimization within a forest management model (Remsoft Spatial Planning System). This method was used to evaluate four alternative objective functions, to maximize: (a) volume harvested, (b) wood product C storage, (c) forest C storage, and (d) C storage in the forest and products, over 300 years for a 30,000 ha hypothetical forest in New Brunswick, Canada. Effects of three initial forest age-structures and a range of product substitution rates were tested. Results showed that in many cases, C storage in product pools (especially in landfills) plus on-site forest C was equivalent to forest C storage resulting from reduced harvest. In other words, accounting for only forest, and not products and landfill C, underestimates true forest contributions to C sequestration, and may result in spurious C maximization strategies. The scenario to maximize harvest resulted in mean harvest for years 1–200 of 3.16 m3 ha−1 yr−1 and total C sequestration of 0.126 t ha−1 yr−1, versus 0.98 m3 ha−1 yr−1 and 0.228 t ha−1 yr−1 for a scenario to maximize forest C. When maximizing total (forest + products) C, mean harvest and total C storage for years 1–200 was 173% and 5% higher, respectively, than when maximizing forest C; and 218% and 6% higher, respectively, when maximizing substitution benefits (0.25 t of avoided C emissions per m3 of lumber used) in addition to total C. Initial forest age-structure affected harvest in years 1–50

[1]  C. Bourque,et al.  Combining carbon sequestration objectives with timber management planning , 2003 .

[2]  W. Kurz,et al.  Mountain pine beetle and forest carbon feedback to climate change , 2008, Nature.

[3]  H. L. Scheurman,et al.  Techniques for Prescribing Optimal Timber Harvest and Investment Under Different Objectives—Discussion and Synthesis , 1977 .

[4]  Werner A. Kurz,et al.  Carbon budget of the Canadian forest product sector , 1999 .

[5]  W. Kurz,et al.  Belowground biomass dynamics in the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector: recent improvements and implications for the estimation of NPP and NEP , 2003 .

[6]  David A. MacLean,et al.  Stand growth model calibration for use in forest pest impact assessment , 1999 .

[7]  Kim Pingoud,et al.  Which rotation length is favourable to carbon sequestration , 2001 .

[8]  D. Maclean.  The role of a stand dynamics model in the spruce budworm decision support system , 1996 .

[9]  Werner A. Kurz,et al.  Estimation of root biomass and dynamics for the carbon budget model of the Canadian forest sector , 1996 .

[10]  Jeremy S. Wilson.  Nineteenth century lumber surveys for Bangor, Maine : Implications for pre-European settlement forest characteristics in northern and eastern Maine , 2005 .

[11]  Hong Jiang,et al.  Variability in Regional Scale Estimates of Carbon Stocks in Boreal Forest Ecosystems: Results From West-Central Alberta , 2002 .

[12]  T. Royama,et al.  Population Dynamics of the Spruce Budworm Choristoneura Fumiferana , 1984 .

[13]  W. Kurz,et al.  Could increased boreal forest ecosystem productivity offset carbon losses from increased disturbances? , 2008, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

[14]  Werner A. Kurz,et al.  Forest carbon accounting at the operational scale , 2002 .

[15]  Manfred J. Lexer,et al.  Assessing trade-offs between carbon sequestration and timber production within a framework of multi-purpose forestry in Austria , 2007 .

[16]  C. Lorimer.  THE PRESETTLEMENT FOREST AND NATURAL DISTURBANCE CYCLE OF NORTHEASTERN MAINE , 1977 .

[17]  Jessie A. Micales,et al.  The decomposition of forest products in landfills , 1997 .

[18]  H. Peltola,et al.  Changed thinning regimes may increase carbon stock under climate change: A case study from a Finnish boreal forest , 2007 .

[19]  Annette Freibauer,et al.  The rules for land use, land use change and forestry under the Kyoto Protocol-lessons learned for the future climate negotiations , 2007 .

[20]  J. Stendahl,et al.  Integrated carbon analysis of forest management practices and wood substitution , 2007 .

[21]  R. Routledge,et al.  The Effect of Potential Catastrophic Mortality and Other Unpredictable Events on Optimal Forest Rotation Policy , 1980 .

[22]  W. Kurz,et al.  An analysis of future carbon budgets of Canadian boreal forests , 1995 .

[23]  K. E. Skog,et al.  Carbon cycling through wood products : The role of wood and paper products in carbon sequestration , 1998 .

[24]  D. Pitt,et al.  Silvicultural responses of two spruce plantations to midrotation commercial thinning in New Brunswick , 2008 .

[25]  Bernhard Schlamadinger,et al.  Forest Harvests and Wood Products: Sources and Sinks of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide , 1998, Forest Science.

[26]  Fan-Rui Meng,et al.  Spatial distribution of carbon in natural and managed stands in an industrial forest in New Brunswick, Canada , 2007 .

[27]  D. Maclean.  Vulnerability of Fir-Spruce Stands During Uncontrolled Spruce Budworm Outbreaks: A Review and Discussion , 1980 .

[28]  R. Wein,et al.  Fire history and rotations in the New Brunswick Acadian Forest , 1977 .

[29]  A. Fredeen,et al.  Comparison of coniferous forest carbon stocks between old-growth and young second-growth forests on two soil types in central British Columbia, Canada , 2005 .

[30]  Bernhard Schlamadinger,et al.  Carbon accounting for forest harvesting and wood products: review and evaluation of different approaches , 1999 .

[31]  Bruce Lippke,et al.  The Environmental Performance of Renewable Building Materials in the Context of Residential Construction , 2007 .

[32]  S. Magnussen,et al.  Model-based, volume-to-biomass conversion for forested and vegetated land in Canada , 2007 .

[33]  T. Lämås,et al.  Modeling Carbon Sequestration and Timber Production in a Regional Case Study , 2006 .

[34]  D. Maclean,et al.  Rate and causes of decline of mature and overmature balsam fir and spruce stands in New Brunswick, Canada , 2005 .

[35]  T. M. Webb,et al.  The Carbon Budget of the Canadian Forest Sector: Phase I , 1993, Simul..

[36]  P. Arp,et al.  Optimal on- and off-site forest carbon sequestration under existing timber supply constraints in northern New Brunswick , 2008 .

[37]  Barbara L. Marks,et al.  Effects of silvicultural practices on carbon stores in Douglas-fir western hemlock forests in the Pacific Northwest, U.S.A.: results from a simulation model , 2002 .

[38]  Werner A. Kurz,et al.  A 70-YEAR RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF CARBON FLUXES IN THE CANADIAN FOREST SECTOR , 1999 .

[39]  F. Hagedorn,et al.  How strongly can forest management influence soil carbon sequestration , 2007 .

[40]  A. J. Panshin,et al.  Textbook of wood technology : structure, identification, properties, and uses of the commercial woods of the United States and Canada , 1980 .

[41]  Birger Solberg,et al.  Substitution between floor constructions in wood and natural stone: comparison of energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and costs over the life cycle. , 2003 .

[42]  Heike Lischke,et al.  Effect of forest management on future carbon pools and fluxes: A model comparison , 2006 .

[43]  T. Lämås,et al.  A model for regional analysis of carbon sequestration and timber production , 2005 .

[44]  Kenneth E. Skog,et al.  A Method Countries Can Use to Estimate Changes in Carbon Stored in Harvested Wood Products and the Uncertainty of Such Estimates , 2004 .

[45]  John Perez-Garcia,et al.  An Assessment of Carbon Pools, Storage, and Wood Products Market Substitution Using Life-Cycle Analysis Results , 2007 .

[46]  B. Schlamadinger,et al.  Options for including land use in a climate agreement post-2012: improving the Kyoto Protocol approach , 2007 .

[47]  G. Marland,et al.  The role of forest and bioenergy strategies in the global carbon cycle , 1996 .

[48]  O. Nasonova,et al.  Technique for estimating the dynamics of water and carbon budgets of a coniferous forest ecosystem , 2007 .

[49]  Jari Liski,et al.  Scenario analysis of the impacts of forest management and climate change on the European forest sector carbon budget , 2003 .

[50]  Linda S. Heath,et al.  The greenhouse gas and energy impacts of using wood instead of alternatives in residential construction in the United States , 2008 .

[51]  J. Loo,et al.  The Acadian forest: Historical condition and human impacts , 2003 .

[52]  F. Wagner,et al.  Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry , 2003 .

[53]  M. Cannell,et al.  Managing forests for wood yield and carbon storage: a theoretical study. , 2000, Tree physiology.

[54]  P. Arp,et al.  Modeling carbon sequestration with CO2Fix and a timber supply model for use in forest management planning , 2006 .

[55]  Linda S. Heath,et al.  Carbon sequestration in the U.S. forest sector from 1990 to 2010 , 2007 .

[56]  S. Gower,et al.  Life cycle inventories of roundwood production in northern Wisconsin: Inputs into an industrial forest carbon budget , 2005 .

[57]  Werner A. Kurz,et al.  Risk of natural disturbances makes future contribution of Canada's forests to the global carbon cycle highly uncertain , 2008, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[58]  W. Kurz,et al.  20th century carbon budget of Canadian forests , 1995 .

[59]  C. Peng,et al.  Effects of harvesting regimes on carbon and nitrogen dynamics of boreal forests in central Canada: a process model simulation , 2002 .

[60]  T. Palosuo,et al.  Uncertainty of forest carbon stock changes – implications to the total uncertainty of GHG inventory of Finland , 2007 .