Benefits of tropical forest management under the new climate change agreement—a case study in Cambodia

Promoting sustainable forest management as part of the reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation in developing countries (REDD)-plus mechanism in the Copenhagen Accord of December 2009 implies that tropical forests will no longer be ignored in the new climate change agreement. As new financial incentives are pledged, costs and revenues on a 1-ha tract of tropical forestland being managed or cleared for other land use options need to be assessed so that appropriate compensation measures can be proposed. Cambodia's highly stocked evergreen forest, which has experienced rapid degradation and deforestation, will be the first priority forest to be managed if financial incentives through a carbon payment scheme are available. By analyzing forest inventory data, we assessed the revenues and costs for managing a hypothetical 1 ha of forestland against six land use options: business-as-usual timber harvesting (BAU-timber), forest management under the REDD-plus mechanism, forest-to-teak plantation, forest-to-acacia plantation, forest-to-rubber plantation, and forest-to-oil palm plantation. We determined annual equivalent values for each option, and the BAU-timber and REDD-plus management options were the highest, with both options influenced by logging costs and timber price. Financial incentives should be provided at a level that would allow continuation of sustainable logging and be attractive to REDD-plus project developers.     

A new way of carbon accounting emphasises the crucial role of sustainable timber use for successful carbon mitigation strategies

The roles of forest management and the use of timber for energy in the global carbon cycle are discussed. Recent studies assert that past forest management has been accelerating climate change, for example in Europe. In addition, the increasing tendency to burn timber is an international concern. Here, we show a new way of carbon accounting considering the use of timber as a carbon neutral transfer into a pool of products. This approach underlines the robust, positive carbon mitigation effects of sustainable timber harvesting. Applying this new perspective, sustainable timber use can be interpreted not as a removal but a prevention of carbon being converted within the cycle of growth and respiration. Identifying timber use as a prevention rather than a removal leads to the understanding of timber use as being no source of carbon emissions of forests but as a carbon neutral transfer to the product pool. Subsequently, used timber will then contribute to carbon emissions from the pool of forest products in the future. Therefore, timber use contributes to carbon mitigation by providing a substantial delay of emissions. In a second step, the carbon model is applied to results of a previous study in which different timber price scenarios were used to predict timber harvests in Bavarian forests (Germany). Thus, the influence of the economic dimension “timber price” on the ecological dimension carbon sequestration was derived. It also shows that these effects are stable, even if an increasing tendency of burning timber products for producing energy is simulated. Linking an economic optimization to a biophysical model for carbon mitigation shows how the impact of management decisions on the environment can be derived. Overall, a sustainably managed system of forests and forest products contributes to carbon mitigation in a positive, stable way, even if the prices for (energy) wood rise substantially.     

采伐影响下森林景观服务功能变化研究

文章以大兴安岭呼中林业局亚里河林场为研究区,以遥感数据、林相图和采伐设计资料为信息源,选择水源涵养、固土保肥、固定CO2和释放O2四项服务功能,运用景观生态学原理,引用相应模型,估算了研究区1989年和2000年服务功能价值及其空间分布变化;建立历年采伐分布图,计算采伐造成的服务功能价值损失,揭示该损失值与木材生产的经济效益之间的关系,并分析了服务功能价值在各管理区域内的分布。结果表明,1989年服务功能价值为1.85×108元,2000年为1.37×108元,价值20×104元h/m₂以上的面积明显下降。生态服务功能的下降由采伐导致,1989至1999年采伐导致的生态损失价值为0.71×108元,是木材生产获利的1.9倍,采伐损失价值与年出材量呈现相同的变化趋势。最后证明了管理等级区划和限制采伐量,即“天保工程”,将有利于森林植被恢复,大幅度提高整个亚里河林场的生态服务功能。     

Optimizing carbon sequestration in commercial forests by integrating carbon management objectives in wood supply modeling

This paper provides a methodology for generating forest management plans, which explicitly maximize carbon (C) sequestration at the forest-landscape level. This paper takes advantage of concepts first presented in a paper by Meng et al. (2003; Mitigation Adaptation Strategies Global Change 8:371–403) by integrating C-sequestration objective functions in existing wood supply models. Carbon-stock calculations performed in Woodstock^TM (RemSoft Inc.) are based on C yields generated from volume table data obtained from local Forest Development Survey plots and a series of wood volume-to-C content conversion factors specified in von Mirbach (2000). The approach is used to investigate the impact of three demonstration forest-management scenarios on the C budget in a 110,000 ha forest in south-central New Brunswick, Canada. Explicit demonstration scenarios addressed include (1) maximizing timber extraction either by clearcut or selection harvesting for greatest revenue generation, (2) maximizing total C storage in the forest landscape and in wood products generated from harvesting, and (3) maximizing C storage together with revenue generation. The level of clearcut harvesting was greatest for scenario 1 (≥15 × 10⁴ m³ of wood and ≥943 ha of land per harvesting period), and least for scenario 2 (=0 m³ per harvesting period) where selection harvesting dominated. Because softwood saw logs were worth more than pulpwood ($60 m⁻³ vs. $40 m⁻³) and were strategic to the long-term storage of C, the production of softwood saw logs exceeded the production of pulpwood in all scenarios. Selection harvesting was generally the preferred harvesting method across scenarios. Only in scenario 1 did levels of clearcut harvesting occasionally exceed those of selection harvesting, mainly in the removal of old, dilapidated stands early in the simulation (i.e., during periods 1 through 3). Scenario 2 provided the greatest total C-storage increase over 80 years (i.e., 14 × 10⁶ Mg C, or roughly 264 Mg ha⁻¹) at a cost of $111 per Mg C due to lost revenues. Scenarios 3 and 1 produced reduced storage rates of roughly 9 × 10⁶ Mg C and 3 × 10⁶ Mg C, respectively; about 64% and 22% of the total, 80-year C storage calculated in scenario 2. The bulk of the C in scenario 2 was stored in the forest, amounting to about 76% of the total C sequestered.     

秃杉人工林营养元素含量、积累与分配特征的研究

对广西南丹山口林场秃杉人工林的N、P、K、Ca和Mg等5种营养元素含量、积累和分配及其随林分年龄的变化趋势进行了研究。结果表明,不同组分营养元素含量大小次序为树叶＞干皮＞树枝＞树根＞干材;林木各组分营养元素含量以N,Ca或K最高,其次是P,Mg最低。8、14和28年生林分营养元素积累总量分别为574.79、833.21和1214.11kg·hm^–2,其中乔木层营养元素积累量依次占92.87%、86.74%和85.88%,林下植被层依次占2.02%、2.99%和4.62%,地表现存凋落物层依次占5.11%、10.27%和9.50%;乔木层均以N或Ca积累量最多,Mg最少;秃杉人工林不同组分营养元素积累量的分配随林分年龄的增长发生变化,由8年生和14年生以树叶和树枝为主,逐渐转移到28年生以干材和树皮为主。3个林分年龄秃杉林每积累1t干物质需要5种营养元素总量分别为8.97、6.40和4.21kg,其中对N或Ca的需求量最大,Mg最少。     

Influence of tree species composition,thinning intensity and climate change on carbon sequestration in Mediterranean mountain forests: a case study using the CO2Fix model

Prediction of future forest carbon (C) stocks as influenced by forest management and climate is a crucial issue in the search for strategies to mitigate and adapt to global change. It is hard to quantify the long-term effect of specific forest practices on C stocks due to the high number of processes affected by forest management. This work aims to quantify how forest management impacts C stocks in Mediterranean mountain forests based on 25 combinations of site index, tree species composition and thinning intensity in three different climate scenarios using the CO2Fix v.3.2 model Masera et al. (Ecol Modell 164:177–199, 2003). The study area is an ecotonal zone located in Central Spain, and the tree species are Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica Willd.). Our results show a strong effect of tree species composition and a negligible effect of thinning intensity. Mixed stands have the highest total stand C stocks: 100 % and 15 % more than pure oak and pine stands respectively, and are here suggested as a feasible and effective mitigation option. Climate change induced a net C loss compared to control scenarios, when reduction in tree growth is taken into account. Mixed stands showed the lowest reduction in forest C stocks due to climate change, indicating that mixed stands are also a valid adaptation strategy. Thus converting from pure to mixed forests would enhance C sequestration under both current and future climate conditions.     

Estimating realized and potential carbon storage benefits from reforestation and afforestation under climate change: a case study of the Qinghai spruce forests in the Qilian Mountains, northwestern China

Greenhouse gas emission has been scientifically shown to be the primary cause of observed global climate change. The reduction of greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere deserves international attention. Aside from strategies to reduce emissions, increasing carbon (C) storage by forests has become an alternative method to lower carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels. The present study assesses the potential of C storage to decrease gas emission by restoring cleared and disturbed spruce (picea) forests in the Qilian Mountains, northwestern China. We first introduced and tested a new method for live aboveground biomass (AGB) estimation. We then used the method to define the relationship of AGB with topographic wetness index (TWI) and precipitation seasonality for total AGB estimation and quantification of the realized C storage in the live AGB of existing spruce forests. The same strategies were adopted to estimate the total AGB and the related potential C storage in the projected potential spruce forest distribution. A species distribution model was used, and the results showed that the AGB of the Qinghai spruce forests ranged between 2.30 and 4.96 Mg per plot (0.021 ha), i.e., 110 Mg ha^-1 to 236 Mg ha^-1). Actual total AGB was measured at 33 Tg, and C storage was 17.3 Tg in existing spruce forests. Potential total AGB and potential C storage were greater if the cleared and the potential C storage was ~50 Tg.     

‘Carbon stocks in a Scots pine afforestation under different thinning intensities management’

Thinning, as a forest management strategy, may contribute towards mitigating climate change, depending on its net effect on forest carbon (C) stocks. Although thinning provides off-site C storage (in the form of wood products) it is still not clear whether it results in an increase, a reduction or no change in on-site C storage. In this study we analyze the effect of thinning on C stocks in a long-term experiment. Different thinning intensities (moderate, heavy and unthinned) have been applied over the last 30 years in a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stand, with a thinning rotation period of 10 years. The main C compartments were analyzed: above and belowground tree biomass, deadwood, forest floor and upper 30-cm of the mineral soil and tree biomass removed in thinning treatments. The results revealed that unthinned stands had the highest C stocks with 315 Mg C ha^?1, moderate thinning presented 304 Mg C ha^?1 and heavy thinning 296 Mg C ha^?1, with significant differences between unthinned and heavily thinned stands. These differences were mainly due to C stock in live biomass, which decreased with thinning intensity. However, soil C stocks, forest floor and mineral soil, were not influenced by thinning, all of the stands displaying very similar values 102–107 Mg C ha^?1 for total soil; 15–19 Mg C ha^?1 for forest floor; 87–88 Mg C ha^?1 for mineral soil). These results highlight the sustainability of thinning treatments in terms of C stocks in this pinewood afforestation, and provide valuable information for forest management aimed at mitigating climate change.     

杉木人工林碳收获预估技术研究

从收获预估的角度确定森林碳收获大小与林分之间的关系,定义了碳收获和碳收获表的概念.采用二次正交旋转设计设置杉木(Cunninghamia lanceolata)人工林典型标准地,调查测定获取典型样地杉木人工林样木各器官碳含量及碳贮量基本数据,基于相对生长方程以单株胸径、树高、材积为自变量建立杉木人工林单木碳收获量模型,以林分平均胸径、平均树高、密度指数和蓄积量为自变量建立杉木人工林林分碳收获量模型并编制其可变密度碳收获量表.经检验,所建立杉木人工林单木各器官碳收获量模型和林分碳收获量模型预估精度均达95%以上,且模型充分考虑了单株材积和林分蓄积量对碳收获量的影响,具有较强的兼容性和可操作性,在森林碳汇估测中具有应用价值.将所建立杉木人工林碳收获量模型应用于杉木人工林单木碳收获量及林分碳收获量预估,实例计算表明其预估精度较高,单木碳收获模型的相对误差仅为4.70 %,说明所建立杉木人工林碳收获量模型可应用于福建省杉木人工林单木和林分碳储量估计,从而丰富了森林资源动态预测内容,并可为森林资源监测及其相关研究提供基础数据.     

The role of economic,policy, and ecological factors in estimating the value of carbon stocks in Everglades mangrove forests,South Florida,USA

Old growth mangroves in existing protected areas store more carbon than restored forests or plantations. Carbon storage in such forests has economic value independent of additionality, offering opportunities for policy makers to ensure their maintenance, and inclusion in climate change mitigation strategies. Mangrove forests of the Everglades National Park (ENP), South Florida, though protected, face external stressors such as hydrological alterations because of flooding control structures and agriculture impacts and saltwater intrusion as a result of increasing sea level rise. Moreover, decreased funding of Everglades’ restoration activities following the recent economic crisis (beginning 2008) threatens the restoration of the Greater Everglades including mangrove dominated coastal regions. We evaluate several economic and ecological challenges confronting the economic valuation of total (vegetation plus soil) organic carbon (TOC) storage in the ENP mangroves. Estimated TOC storage for this forested wetland ranges from 70 to 537 Mg C/ha and is higher than values reported for tropical, boreal, and temperate forests. We calculate the average abatement cost of C specific for ENP mangroves to value the TOC from $2–$3.4 billion; estimated unit area values are $13,859/ha–$23,728/ha. The valuation of the stored/legacy carbon is based on the: 1) ecogeomorphic attributes, 2) regional socio-economic milieu, and 3) status of the ENP mangroves as a protected area. The assessment of C storage estimates and its economic value can change public perception about how this regulating ecosystem service of ENP mangrove wetlands (144,447 ha) supports human well-being and numerous economic activities. This perception, in turn, can contribute to future policy changes such that the ENP mangroves, the largest mangrove area in the continental USA, can be included as a potential alternative in climate change mitigation strategies.     

西南地区天然林资源近60年动态分析

天然林资源是衡量区域生态环境状况的重要指标之一。分析天然林资源动态对提高其管理水平和促进区域可持续发展具有重要意义。通过对西南地区1949年以来天然林资源数据的挖掘和比较分析,结果表明:天然林发展可以1981年为界分为前后两个阶段,前阶段天然林面积和蓄积因木材消耗分别降低了26%和33%,后阶段在生态建设工程推动下两者分别增加了58%和42%,达到2008年的25.87×106hm2和31.84×108m3,恢复到了1949年的资源总量水平;但天然林整体质量提高缓慢,平均每hm2蓄积123 m3尚处历史低位;天然林年龄结构也不均衡,幼、中龄林的面积占天然林的58%,蓄积仅占30%,成、过熟林面积占28%,蓄积却占55%;目前天然林中公益林和商品林的面积比约7∶3,蓄积量比约8∶2;商品材采伐量在天然林保护(简称天保)工程实施初期锐减了80%,但在2008年又回升到了天保工程前,且总体增长趋势未变。经过10 a天保和退耕还林工程后,目前西南地区天然林总面积增长放缓,但单位面积的蓄积还很低,故建议天然林发展策略从增加天然林面积转向保持面积和提高整体质量。保持面积的关键是划定天然林面积红线和严格控制天然林采伐,提高整体质量的重点是调整商品林年龄结构,适当提高薪炭林和特用林面积比重,加强退化天然林的生态恢复和重建。     

Economic Assessment of Mitigation Options for Enhancing and Maintaining Carbon Sink Capacity in Indonesia

Land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) projects may becomeeligible under Article 12 of the United Nations Framework Convention onClimate Change (UNFCCC) Kyoto Protocol's Clean DevelopmentMechanism (CDM). Some of the issues, which need to be addressed,include identifying the types of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation activitiesin LULUCF, which could be undertaken as CDM projects. Other issuesinvolve evaluating the mitigation potential and cost effectiveness of theactivities, as well as their likely socio-economic impacts and their influenceon the national carbon (C) stock. Three broad categories of mitigationactivities in LULUCF analyzed in this study include managing Cstorage, C conservation and carbon substitution. The C intensityof the activities was estimated to range from 37 to 218 Mg C per ha. The highest is in reforested land with slow growing species and the lowestin short-rotation plantations. At a real discount rate of 10%, investmentcosts required to implement the mitigation activities ranged from US$0.07 to 0.88 per Mg C, with life cycle costs ranging from US$ 0.07to 3.87 per Mg C, and benefits ranging from US$ –0.81 to 6.57 perMg C. Mitigation options with negative benefits are forest protection,reforestation, reduced impact logging and enhanced natural regeneration,while those with positive benefits are short rotation timber plantation, andbio-energy. Reforestation gave negative benefit since no revenue fromwood as trees are left in the forest for conservation, while Reduced ImpactLogging (RIL) and Enhanced Natural Regeneration (ENR)gave negative benefits because additional cost required to implement theoptions could not be compensated by the increase in round-hardwoodyield. Other factor is that the local price of round-hardwood is very low,i.e. US$ 160 per m³, while FOB price is between 250–400 US$ per m³. Total area available for implementing mitigationoptions (planting trees) in 1997 was 31 million hectares (× 10⁶ha) (about 40% are critical lands, 35% grasslands and 25%unproductive lands).Total area being considered for implementing the options under baseline,government-plans and mitigation scenarios in the period 2000–2030 is12.6, 16.3 and 23.6 × 10⁶ ha respectively. Furthermore, total area of production forest being considered for implementing reduced impactlogging and enrichment planting under the tree scenarios is 9, 26 and 16 × 10⁶ ha respectively, and that for forest protection is 2.1, 3.7, 3.1× 10⁶ ha respectively. The cumulative investment for implementingall mitigation activities in the three scenarios was estimated at 595, 892and 1026 million US$ respectively. National C stock under thebaseline scenario will continuously decline through 2030, while undergovernment-plans and mitigation scenarios the carbon stock increases. In2030, national C stock of the government and mitigation scenarios isalmost the same, 13% higher than that of baseline. However, the increasein national carbon stock in both scenarios could not offset carbon emissionsdue to deforestation.     

Effect of age and disturbance on decadal changes in carbon stocks in managed forest landscapes in central Canada

Forests have the potential to be a sink in the global carbon (C) budget and thus play an important role in mitigating climate change. However, large-scale management of forests to their sink potential requires understanding of factors responsible for changes in forest C stocks. In this paper, we quantify the effects of initial forest landscape condition and disturbance rates on landscape-level changes in forest C stocks using predictions for managed forests in Ontario, Canada. Ten-year changes in C stocks in public forests managed for wood fibre production were simulated under four scenarios reflecting the range of volume harvested between 1998 and 2007. Changes in forest C stocks varied across Ontario and with harvest rate, resulting in the forest ranging from being a source of 0.767 tC ha^-1 year^?1 to a sink of 0.656 tC ha^?1 year^?1. Simulation results were used to develop a predictive equation explaining over 93 % of the variation in forest C stocks. Variables included in the equation, in descending order of their effect on changes in forest C stocks, were relative harvest rate, forest growth rate, natural disturbance rate, and initial forest C stocks. A reduced equation, including only the first three variables, explained nearly 89 % of the variation in forest C stocks. The results indicate that short-term changes in C stocks depend on initial forest condition and that there are limits to how much these changes can be manipulated by altering harvest and disturbance rates.     

不同收获与清林方式对杉木林养分的影响

对三代杉木林全株、全木和传统收获及传统和全木收获后火烧清理迹地林分营养元素变化进行了研究 ,结果表明 :杉木林采用全株收获和全木收获的营养元素损失量分别是传统收获的1 99倍和1 64倍 ;采伐剩余物火烧导致林地生态系统中N和P2O5 大量损失 ;采用传统收获及随后火烧清理采伐剩余物 ,N和P2O5 损失量比仅采用全株或全木收获的均高。若缩短轮伐期 ,则可能导致立地N和P2O5 的严重亏缺 ;全株或全木收获导致大量盐基离子移出林地 ,可能导致土壤较为严重的酸化趋势。     

抚育对粗枝云杉人工林生长和空间结构的影响

森林抚育是实现人工林科学、高效、可持续经营的基本要求。以甘肃省沙滩国家森林公园云杉（Picea asperata）人工林为研究对象,设置幼龄林和中龄林两个试验区,对5种抚育方式后的林分生长情况和空间结构特征进行6 a连续调查分析。结果表明,封禁（FJ）、卫生伐（WF）、机械疏伐 [隔一伐一（JF1）、隔二伐一（JF2）]、生态疏伐（SF）后,幼龄林林分的平均胸径、单株材积和蓄积6 a生长量均较对照显著增加,平均胸径分别比对照高-0.3、0.2、2.1、4.5、2.3 cm,单株材积6 a生长量分别是对照的1.2、1.1、4.0、7.8、10.2倍,蓄积6 a生长量分别是对照的1.5、1.4、1.8、8.1、10.4倍。中龄林阶段,FJ、WF、JF1、JF2、SF实施6 a后平均胸径分别比对照高0.2、0.3、2.8、2.6、1.6 cm;抚育明显地增加了林分的蓄积量生长量,除JF1为负增长-16.8 m³/hm²外,FJ、WF、JF2、SF分别是对照的2.1、2.6、11.7、18.2倍,且SF最有利于增加林分蓄积。抚育对林木隔离程度作用效果不显著,对林木大小分化程度影响较小,林分平均角尺度值显著减小,左侧频率之和大于右侧接近正态分布,林分空间格局调整为随机分布或均匀分布;抚育对中龄林林分大小比和角尺度的调节作用优于幼龄林。综合分析得出,云杉人工林高效抚育方式为：密度为4 500~4 800株/hm²幼龄林采用SF、JF2均可,经营密度宜为3 200~3 500 株/hm²;密度为1 630~ 2 151株/hm²的中龄林只能采用SF以加快胸径、蓄积生长,留存密度以1 500株/hm²左右为宜。     

A macroeconomic analysis of adaptation to climate change impacts on forests in India

We examine the potential for adaptation to climate change in Indian forests, and derive the macroeconomic implications of forest impacts and adaptation in India. The study is conducted by integrating results from the dynamic global vegetation model IBIS and the computable general equilibrium model GRACE-IN, which estimates macroeconomic implications for six zones of India. By comparing a reference scenario without climate change with a climate impact scenario based on the IPCC A2-scenario, we find major variations in the pattern of change across zones. Biomass stock increases in all zones but the Central zone. The increase in biomass growth is smaller, and declines in one more zone, South zone, despite higher stock. In the four zones with increases in biomass growth, harvest increases by only approximately 1/3 of the change in biomass growth. This is due to two market effects of increased biomass growth. One is that an increase in biomass growth encourages more harvest given other things being equal. The other is that more harvest leads to higher supply of timber, which lowers market prices. As a result, also the rent on forested land decreases. The lower prices and rent discourage more harvest even though they may induce higher demand, which increases the pressure on harvest. In a less perfect world than the model describes these two effects may contribute to an increase in the risk of deforestation because of higher biomass growth. Furthermore, higher harvest demands more labor and capital input in the forestry sector. Given total supply of labor and capital, this increases the cost of production in all the other sectors, although very little indeed. Forestry dependent communities with declining biomass growth may, however, experience local unemployment as a result.     

Potential and Cost of Carbon Sequestration in the Tanzanian Forest Sector

The forest sector in Tanzania offers ample opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and sequester carbon (C) in terrestrial ecosystems. More than 90% of the country's demand for primary energy is obtained from biomass mostly procured unsustainably from natural forests. This study examines the potential to sequester C through expansion of forest plantations aimed at reducing the dependence on natural forest for wood fuel production, as well as increase the country's output of industrial wood from plantations. These were compared ton conservationoptions in the tropical and miombo ecosystems. Three sequestrationoptions were analyzed, involving the establishment of short rotation and long rotation plantations on about 1.7 × 10⁶ hectares. The short rotation community forestry option has a potential to sequester an equilibrium amount of 197.4 × 10⁶ Mg C by 2024 at a net benefit of 79.5 × 10⁶, while yielding a NPV of 0.46 Mg^-1 C. The long rotation options for softwood and hardwood plantations will reach an equilibrium sequestration of 5.6 and 11.8 × 10⁶ Mg C at a negative NPV of 0.60 Mg^-1 C and 0.32 Mg^-1 C. The three options provide cost competitive opportunities for sequestering about 7.5 × 10⁶ Mg C yr^-1 while providing desired forest products and easing the pressure on the natural forests in Tanzania. The endowment costs of the sequestration options were all found to be cheaper than the emission avoidance cost for conservation options which had an average cost of 1.27 Mg^-1 C, rising to 7.5 Mg^-1 C under some assumptions on vulnerability to encroachment. The estimates shown here may represent the upper bound, because the actual potential will be influenced by market prices for inputs and forest products, land use policy constraints and the structure of global C transactions.     

Mitigation,adaptation, and climate change: results from recent research on US timber markets

This paper reviews recent studies that have addressed how US timber markets may adapt to climate change, and how US forests could be used to mitigate potential climate change. The studies are discussed in light of the ecological and economic assumptions used to estimate adaptation. Estimates of both economic impacts and carbon sequestration costs depend heavily on the assumptions and methods used, although some general conclusions can be drawn. Studies of economic impacts suggest that average market effects in the United States may range from +$1.3 to +7.4 billion per year by the middle of the next century. Estimates of the cost of sequestering carbon have generally increased over the last 10 years, with a current range of <1–73 million metric t per year of additional sequestration from afforestation projects costing $5–66 per metric t. Estimates of the potential for alternative methods for carbon sequestration, such as product markets and recycling, are as large as afforestation estimates, with up to 50 million metric tons per year of additional storage considered possible. Cost estimates have not been developed for these alternative methods, however.     

黄河流域秦岭主要林分凋落物的水文生态功能

用水量平衡场和收获法研究了秦岭松栎林带主要林型凋落物在生态系统水分循环和营养循环中的功能。26龄锐齿栎林、24龄油松林和24龄华山松林凋落物现存量平均值为17.475t/hm₂,排序为华山松林>油松林>锐齿栎林。3种林分年凋落物平均值为4.179t/hm₂,前者是后二者的1.4倍,但凋落物现存量不及后二者一半。生长季节,3种林分凋落物层蓄留量平均值为44.81mm,占同期大气降水量的4.47%,阔叶林较针叶林高。地面蒸发量及其蒸发率为:无林裸地>阔叶林地>针叶林地,无凋落物覆盖>凋落物覆盖;针叶林地表蒸发季节变化相对稳定,阔叶树的变化较大。3种林分凋落物N、P、K、Ca和Mg含量平均值分别为1.08%、0.07%、0.37%、1.37%和0.21%,锐齿栎林较大,油松林和华山松林则差异不大。凋落物主要营养元素积累量平均值为502.5kg/hm₂,排序为:油松林>华山松林>锐齿栎林。锐齿栎林、油松林和华山松林5种营养元素年吸收量、归还量分别为334.4kg/hm₂和147.2kg/hm₂,195.5kg/hm₂和66.9kg/hm₂及138.8kg/hm₂和80.4kg/hm₂,不同林分营养元素的年吸收量和归还量也存在一定差异。锐齿栎林不仅对林地营养元素要求较高,而且循环较快。