Reducing uncertainty and increasing consistency: technical improvements to forest carbon pool estimation using the national forest inventory of the US

C.W. Woodall; G.M. Domke; J. Coulston; M.B. Russell; J.A. Smith; Charles H. (Hobie) Perry; S.M. Ogle; S. Healey; A. Gray

Treesearch

Reducing uncertainty and increasing consistency: technical improvements to forest carbon pool estimation using the national forest inventory of the US

Informally Refereed

Authors:

C.W. Woodall, G.M. Domke, J. Coulston, M.B. Russell, J.A. Smith, Charles H. (Hobie) Perry, S.M. Ogle, S. Healey, A. Gray

Year:

2015

Type:

General Technical Report

Station:

Pacific Northwest Research Station

Source:

In: Stanton, Sharon M.; Christensen, Glenn A., comps. 2015. Pushing boundaries: new directions in inventory techniques and applications: Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) symposium 2015. 2015 December 8–10; Portland, Oregon. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-931. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. p. 133.

Download (PDF 227 KB)

Download (PDF 227 KB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/50313.pdf

Abstract

The FIA program does not directly measure forest C stocks. Instead, a combination of empirically derived C estimates (e.g., standing live and dead trees) and models (e.g., understory C stocks related to stand age and forest type) are used to estimate forest C stocks. A series of recent refinements in FIA estimation procedures have sought to reduce the uncertainty associated with the national C inventory by: 1) refining forest floor C estimates with in situ data, 2) updating the live belowground and understory C pools modeling approaches, 3) refining objective delineations between woodland and forest land uses, and 4) revising managed land delineations. The results of these studies in the context of forest C accounting and future refinements are discussed in the context of UNFCCC reporting.

Parent Publication

Pushing boundaries: new directions in inventory techniques and applications: Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) symposium 2015

Citation

Woodall, C.W.; Domke, G.M.; Coulston, J.; Russell, M.B.; Smith, J.A.; Perry, C.H.; Ogle, S.M.; Healey, S.; Gray, A. 2015. Reducing uncertainty and increasing consistency: technical improvements to forest carbon pool estimation using the national forest inventory of the US. In: Stanton, Sharon M.; Christensen, Glenn A., comps. 2015. Pushing boundaries: new directions in inventory techniques and applications: Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) symposium 2015. 2015 December 8–10; Portland, Oregon. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-931. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. p. 133.