Changing stock of biomass carbon in a boreal forest over 93 years

The growing stock more than doubled from 1.6 to 3.4 million m 3 between 1912 and 2005 in forests on an area of 387 km 2 in southern Finland. The stock expansion continued for 93 years noting interim results, which were available for 1959, 1982, 1994 and 1999. Forested area in the region hardly chang...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Forest ecology and management 2010-03, Vol.259 (7), p.1239-1244
Main Authors:	Kauppi, Pekka E., Rautiainen, Aapo, Korhonen, Kari T., Lehtonen, Aleksi, Liski, Jari, Nöjd, Pekka, Tuominen, Sakari, Haakana, Markus, Virtanen, Tarmo
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	afforestation Animal and plant ecology Animal, plant and microbial ecology Biological and medical sciences Biomass Biomass carbon balance boreal forests carbon dioxide Carbon reserves Carbon sequestration Carbon sink deforestation forest growth forest management Forested landscape Forestry Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology gas emissions land use land use change landscape ecology Synecology Terrestrial ecosystems vegetation cover
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Summary:	The growing stock more than doubled from 1.6 to 3.4 million m 3 between 1912 and 2005 in forests on an area of 387 km 2 in southern Finland. The stock expansion continued for 93 years noting interim results, which were available for 1959, 1982, 1994 and 1999. Forested area in the region hardly changed. Carbon sequestration was mainly a result of a long-term recovery from forest degradation, a legacy of land use in the 18th and 19th centuries. Tree demography responded to management change especially of mature stands: Average tree size and stocking density of stands increased. On average the expanding biomass stock sequestered 18 tons C annually per km 2 (18 g C per m 2). In comparison, the emissions of fossil carbon in the region were estimated at 12 tons C per km 2 (12 g C per m 2) on average. However, fossil CO 2 emissions exceeded biomass sequestration in recent decades. The powerful and persistent expansion of the carbon stock was an unintended co-benefit of forestry, which was motivated by the intention to improve timber yield. On the more negative side the change in management introduced clear-cuts, and a loss of diverse elements of the pre-industrial biota.
ISSN:	0378-1127 1872-7042