Northern Research Station

Title: Methods for calculating forest ecosystem and harvested carbon with standard estimates for forest types of the United States

Author: Smith, James E.; Heath, Linda S.; Skog, Kenneth E.; Birdsey, Richard A.

Date: 2006

Source: Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-343. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station. 216 p.

Station ID: GTR-NE-343

Description: This study presents techniques for calculating average net annual additions to carbon in forests and in forest products. Forest ecosystem carbon yield tables, representing stand-level merchantable volume and carbon pools as a function of stand age, were developed for 51 forest types within 10 regions of the United States. Separate tables were developed for afforestation and reforestation. Because carbon continues to be sequestered in harvested wood, approaches to calculate carbon sequestered in harvested forest products are included. Although these calculations are simple and inexpensive to use, the uncertainty of results obtained by using representative average values may be high relative to other techniques that use site- or project-specific data. The estimates and methods in this report are consistent with guidelines being updated for the U.S. Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program and with guidelines developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The CD-ROM included with this publication contains a complete set of tables in spreadsheet format.

Publication Resources:

• Download a zip file containing the contents of the companion CD (370 KB)

Keywords: forest carbon sequestration project, harvested wood carbon, carbon yield tables, stock change, voluntary reporting

View and Print this Publication (1537.5 KB)

Publication Notes: 

• We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
• This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.
• This publication may be available in hard copy. Check the Northern Research Station web site to request a printed copy of this publication.
• Our on-line publications are scanned and captured using Adobe Acrobat. During the capture process some typographical errors may occur. Please contact Sharon Hobrla, shobrla@fs.fed.us if you notice any errors which make this publication unusable.

 Get the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat reader or Acrobat Reader for Windows with Search and Accessibility

Citation

Smith, James E.; Heath, Linda S.; Skog, Kenneth E.; Birdsey, Richard A.  2006.  Methods for calculating forest ecosystem and harvested carbon with standard estimates for forest types of the United States.   Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-343. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station. 216 p..