A Case Study of Carbon Sequestration Potential of Land Use Policies Favoring Re-growth and Long-term Protection of Temperate Forests
- Chad McGuire
Abstract
There is a traditional view suggesting forests remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (Pregitzer & Euskirchen, 2004), but they cease to serve as a carbon sink as they fully mature (Odum, 1969). Recent modeling of old-growth forests indicate they continue to serve as a “net sink” of carbon even after maturity (Carey, Sala, & Callaway, 2001; Zhou, 2006), sequestering an average of 2.4 +/- 0.8 tC ha-1 yr-1 (tC = metric tons of carbon; ha = hectare; yr =year), identifying a ratio of heterotrophic respiration (Rh) to net primary production (NPP) of approximately 0.65 +/- 0.02 (Luyssaert, 2008). These figures show the strongest correlation amongst temperate forest regions. Two calculations are made using the carbon sequestration average. One is made identifying the amount of carbon sequestered through a small-scale land protection organization, showing a net carbon sequestration of approximately 224 metric tons of carbon per year. The other is based on the amount of land required to offset current anthropogenic emissions of carbon in the global carbon budget, showing approximately 235 million hectares of new forest growth would be required to offset current global anthropogenic emissions. One implication of these calculations is the traditional assumption of carbon neutrality increasing with age (Magnani, 2007) is incorrect, suggesting re-growing forests may be a favored policy choice for continued carbon sequestration.
- Full Text:
PDF
- DOI:10.5539/jsd.v3n1p11
Journal Metrics
h-index (2017): 33
i10-index (2017): 81
h5-Index (2017): 18
h5-Media (2017): 25
Index
- Academic Journals Database
- ACNP
- AGRICOLA
- ANVUR (Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes)
- Berkeley Library
- CAB Abstracts
- CNKI Scholar
- COPAC
- CrossRef
- DTU Library
- EBSCOhost
- Elektronische Zeitschriftenbibliothek (EZB)
- EuroPub Database
- Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA)
- Genamics JournalSeek
- GETIT@YALE (Yale University Library)
- Ghent University Library
- Google Scholar
- Harvard Library
- INDEX ISLAMICUS
- Infotrieve
- Jisc Library Hub Discover
- JournalGuide
- JournalTOCs
- LOCKSS
- Max Planck Institutes
- MIAR
- Mir@bel
- NewJour
- Norwegian Centre for Research Data (NSD)
- Open J-Gate
- PKP Open Archives Harvester
- Pollution Abstracts
- Publons
- Pubmed journal list
- RePEc
- ROAD
- SafetyLit
- Scilit
- SHERPA/RoMEO
- Standard Periodical Directory
- Stanford Libraries
- UCR Library
- Ulrich's
- UniCat
- Universe Digital Library
- UoS Library
- WorldCat
- WorldWideScience
- Zeitschriften Daten Bank (ZDB)
Contact
- Sherry SunEditorial Assistant
- jsd@ccsenet.org