Abstract
This report assesses how carbon stocks at regional scales and in individual national forests are affected by factors such as timber harvesting, natural disturbances, climate variability, increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, and nitrogen deposition. Previous baseline assessments of carbon stocks (https://www.fs.fed.us/managing-land/sc/carbon) evaluated observed trends based on forest inventory data but were limited in ability to reveal detailed causes of these trends. The expanded assessments reported here are based on an extensive disturbance and climate history for each national forest, and two forest carbon models, to estimate the relative impacts of disturbance (e.g., fires, harvests, insect outbreaks, disease) and nondisturbance factors (climate, carbon dioxide concentration, nitrogen deposition). Results are summarized for each region of the National Forest System in the main document. A set of regional appendices to this report provides more detailed information about individual national forests within each region. Results are highly variable across the United States. Generally, carbon stocks are increasing in forests of the eastern United States as these forests continue to recover and grow older after higher historical harvesting rates and periods of nonforest land use. In contrast, carbon stocks in forests of the western United States may be either increasing or decreasing, depending on recent effects of natural disturbances and climate change. The information supports national forest units in assessing carbon stocks, quantifying carbon outcomes of broad forest management strategies and planning, and meeting carbon assessment requirements of the 2012 Planning Rule and directives. Results of these expanded assessments will provide context for project-level decisions, separated from the effects of factors that are beyond land managers’ control.
Full citation
Birdsey R., Dugan A.J., Healey S.P., Dante-Wood K., Zhang F., Mo G., Chen J.M., Hernandez A.J., Raymond C.L., McCarter J.B. (2019). Assessment of the influence of disturbance, management activities, and environmental factors on carbon stocks of U.S. national forests. General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-402. Fort Collins, CO. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station.
Online
https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_series/rmrs/gtr/rmrs_gtr402.pdf