Carbon pools - checking the deep end, before diving in (The ME Experience)

Abstract

Maine’s initial Greenhouse Gas (GHG) estimates of the Land Use Change and Forestry (LUCF) sub-accounts predicted that this account supplied 15 percent of the net emissions in 2000. The magnitude and direction of this estimate ran counter to internal assumptions and the recently published analysis on multiple and positive forest inventory changes for the period of 1995 to 2002. The major cause was the simple assignment and linkage of a forest soil’s organic carbon level to a single specific forest type group. Carbon emissions were predicted as a result of changes in the forest type distribution over successive periodic and annual inventories (1980 to 2002). In general, plots transitioned from previous softwood to a new hardwood forest type group, creating an assumed and immediate diminution in the underlying soil’s organic carbon level. Improved carbon flux estimations were obtained by: the use of a single foresttyping algorithm to ameliorate changes in the soil sub-account; incorporating regional and local biomass equations; utilizing FIA P3 DWM data; state level accounting of processed wood products and residues; and a structured analysis of land use coding for conversion and reversion rates.

Parent Publication

• Monitoring Science and Technology Symposium: Unifying Knowledge for Sustainability in the Western Hemisphere

Citation

Laustsen, K. M. 2006. Carbon pools - checking the deep end, before diving in (The ME Experience). In: Aguirre-Bravo, C.; Pellicane, Patrick J.; Burns, Denver P.; and Draggan, Sidney, Eds. 2006. Monitoring Science and Technology Symposium: Unifying Knowledge for Sustainability in the Western Hemisphere Proceedings RMRS-P-42CD. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 152-160