Carbon Sequestration in Farm Carbon Sequestration in Farm and Forest Ecosystemsand Forest EcosystemsSarah Hines

April 2009

shines@fs.fed.us

OverviewOverview

• Sequestration: What is it and how does it happen?• Global Carbon Cycle & Stocks• Forests

• Forest Carbon Pools• Carbon Flux & Cycling

• Agriculture and Rangelands• The local process• Soil & co-benefits

Carbon Sequestration

• The long term storage of carbon in the terrestrial biosphere, oceans, or underground, by maintaining/enhancing natural processes, improving management, or improving technology.

The Global Carbon Cycle

Source: NASA Earth Observatory and Woods Hole Research Institute

Global Carbon Stocks and Soil Carbon Global Carbon Stocks and Soil Carbon PoolsPools

Source: IPCC Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry, 2001

Carbon Budget of the US Forest Sector

-2000

-1000

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

1700 1800 1900 2000 2100

YEAR

Mill

ions

ton

s C

O2/

yr Net Emissions

Net Sequestration

• National Baseline ~200 Tg C/yr• 10% of CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels• “A goal of an additional 100 to 200 Tg C/yr of forest

carbon is achievable, but would require investment in inventory and monitoring, development of technology and practices, and assistance for land managers.” Birdsey et al, 2006.

Carbon Pools in Forested Ecosystems: What the US Forest Service Monitors & Reports

Detailed measurement and estimation Summarized estimates for default tables

Summarized estimates for reporting

Live trees: above-groundLive trees

Ecosystem carbon

Live trees: below-ground

Tree seedlings Understory vegetation

Shrubs, herbs, forbs, grasses

Standing dead trees: above-groundStanding dead treesStanding dead trees: below-ground

Down dead woodDown dead woodStumps and dead roots

Fine woody debrisForest floorLitter

Humus

Soil carbon Soil carbon

Carbon Pools in CCAR:Optional & Required

Category Carbon PoolForest

ManagementReforestation Avoided Conversion Determination of Value

Above-ground living Biomass

Required Required1 Required Sampled in Project

Below-ground living biomass

Required Required1 RequiredCalculation based on above

ground sampling

Shrubs and Herbaceous Understory

Optional Required Optional Sampled in Project

Standing Dead Biomass

Required Required Required Sampled in Project

Lying Dead Wood Optional Optional2 Optional Sampled in Project

Litter Optional Optional Optional Sampled in Project

Soil Soil3 Optional Optional Optional Sampled in project

Off-site Dead biomass

Wood Products Required NA RequiredDecay calculation from volume of

harvested wood

Living biomass

On-site Dead biomass

Source: CCAR, 2nd Public Workshop for Updated Forest Protocol, 2/3/09

Carbon Pools and Fluxes

Carbon movement between pools…

Evey Canyon, Angeles National Forest

Carbon Flux: How we know what we know

Suggestions on how to Measure Flux at a Landscape Scale…

Hoover, Ed. 2008

Relationship Between Forest Ecosystem Components

Smith et al, 2006. Methods for Calculating Forest Ecosystem and Harvested Carbon with Standard Estimates for Forest Types of the United States. GTR-NE-343

Mitigation Options…

Emissions Reduction•Substitute Wood Products for More Energy-Intensive Products•Reduce Demand for Energy through Forest Operations Efficiency•Reduce Biomass Burning (Wildfires) Sink Enhancement•Afforest Marginal Cropland and Pasture•Reduce Conversion of Forestland to Nonforest Use •Improve Forest Management•Reduce Harvest•Increase AgroforestryEmissions Reduction & Sink Enhancement•Substitute Renewable Biomass for Fossil Fuel Energy•Increase Proportion and Retention of C in Durable Wood Products•Increase Paper and Wood Recycling•Plant Trees in Urban and Suburban Areas

…Mitigation Potential

• From 1990-2005, forest sector sequestered 162 Tg C/yr

• Lots more here…

Management counts for a lot…

Root Systems of Native Grasses and Crops

1

2

3

meters

Source: Courtesy of Ron Follett, Agricultural Research Service, USDA