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

作者：Hennigar Chris R^*; MacLean David A; Amos Binks Luke J

来源：Forest Ecology and Management, 2008, 256(4): 786-797.

DOI：10.1016/j.foreco.2008.05.037

• carbon sequestration
• optimization
• wood products
• woodstock
• CBM-CFS3
• forest management
• avoided emissions
• substitution

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 m(3) ha(-1) yr(-1) and total C sequestration of 0.126 t ha(-1) yr(-1), versus 0.98 m(3) 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 m(3) of lumber used) in addition to total C. Initial forest age-structure affected harvest in years 1-50 < 34% among the four alternative management objective scenarios, and resulted in mean C sequestration rates of 0.31, 0.10, and -0.14 t ha(-1) yr(-1) when maximizing total C storage for young, even-aged, and old forests, respectively. Our results reinforce the importance of including products in forest-sector C budgets, and demonstrate how including product C in management can maximize forest contributions toward reduced atmospheric CO2 at operational scales.

• 出版日期2008-8-10