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- Title
OVERESTIMATED BIOMASS CARBON POOLS OF THE NORTHERN MID- AND HIGH LATITUDE FORESTS.
- Authors
Jingyun Fang; Brown, Sandra; Yanhong Tang; Nabuurs, Gert-Jan; Xiangping Wang; Haihua Shen
- Abstract
The biomass carbon (C) stock of forests is one of key parameters for the study of regional and global carbon cycles. Literature reviews shows that inventory-based forest C stocks documented for major countries in the middle and high northern latitudes fall within a narrow range of 36-56 Mg C ha-1 with an overall area-weighted mean of 43.6 Mg C ha-1. These estimates are 0.40 to 0.71 times smaller than those (61-108Mg Cha-1) used in previous analysis of balancing the global carbon budget. A statistical analysis, using the global forest biomass database, implies that aboveground biomass per hectare is proportional to forest mean height [biomass in Mg/ha = 10.63 (height in m)] in closed-canopy forests in the study regions, indicating that forest height can be a proxy of regional biomass C stocks. The narrow range of C stocks is likely a result of similar forest height across the northern regions. The lower biomass C stock obtained in this study strongly suggests that the role of the northern forests in the global carbon cycle needs to be re-evaluated. Our findings also suggest that regional estimates of biomass could be readily made from the use of satellite methods such as lidar that can measure forest canopy height over large regions.
- Subjects
FOREST biomass; CARBON cycle; FORESTS &; forestry; LATITUDE; FOREST canopies; BIOGEOCHEMICAL cycles; PLANT canopies; STATISTICS; ARTIFICIAL satellites
- Publication
Climatic Change, 2006, Vol 74, Issue 1-3, p355
- ISSN
0165-0009
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s10584-005-9028-8