Understanding Old-Growth Forest Carbon Storage Potential in the Central Hardwoods Region

Abstract

Stretching from Missouri through Arkansas to Georgia and New York and covering 609,000 square kilometers, the Central Hardwoods region is the world’s largest continuous deciduous forested area. Today, most of the forests in the Central Hardwoods region are second-growth forests, meaning that they have been harvested once in the past two centuries. Very few of the forests are old-growth forests, which are defined as uneven-aged forest with trees more than 150 years old and minimal harvesting or manipulation over the last 40 to 100 years.

Citation

USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 2024. Understanding Old-Growth Forest Carbon Storage Potential in the Central Hardwoods Region. Rooted in Research Issue 34, June 2024. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 2 p.