scholarly journals Uncertainty of inventory-based estimates of the carbon dynamics of Canada’s managed forest (1990–2014)

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (8) ◽  
pp. 1082-1094 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.M. Metsaranta ◽  
C.H. Shaw ◽  
W.A. Kurz ◽  
C. Boisvenue ◽  
S. Morken
Keyword(s):  
Reporting System ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Ecosystem Model ◽  
Forest Sector ◽  
Managed Forest ◽  
Model Soil ◽  
Carbon Budget Model ◽  
C Dynamics ◽  
C Stock ◽  
International Climate

Canada’s National Forest Carbon Monitoring Accounting and Reporting System (NFCMARS) quantifies the carbon (C) dynamics and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals of Canada’s managed forest to fulfill reporting obligations under international climate conventions. Countries are also requested to assess the uncertainty associated with these estimates, which we report here. We used Monte Carlo simulation to quantify uncertainty of carbon stock and flux estimates from the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector (CBM-CFS3), the core ecosystem model of the NFCMARS. We evaluated the impacts of model algorithms, parameters, and the input data used to describe forest characteristics and disturbance rates. Under our assumptions, 95% confidence interval widths averaged 16.2 Pg C (+8.3 and –7.9 Pg C, or ±15%) for total ecosystem C stock and 32.2 Tg C·year−1 (+16.6 and –15.6 Tg C·year−1) for net biome production relative to an overall simulation median of –0.8 Tg C·year−1 from 1990 to 2014. The largest sources of uncertainty were related to factors determining biomass increment and the parameters used to model soil and dead organic matter C dynamics. Opportunities to reduce uncertainty and associated research challenges were identified.

scholarly journals Could increased boreal forest ecosystem productivity offset carbon losses from increased disturbances?

2007 ◽  
Vol 363 (1501) ◽  
pp. 2259-2268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Werner A Kurz ◽  
Graham Stinson ◽  
Greg Rampley
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Net Primary Production ◽  
Natural Disturbance ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Forest Sector ◽  
Carbon Budget Model ◽  
C Stocks ◽  
Carbon Losses ◽  
Forest C ◽  
Landscape Level

To understand how boreal forest carbon (C) dynamics might respond to anticipated climatic changes, we must consider two important processes. First, projected climatic changes are expected to increase the frequency of fire and other natural disturbances that would change the forest age-class structure and reduce forest C stocks at the landscape level. Second, global change may result in increased net primary production (NPP). Could higher NPP offset anticipated C losses resulting from increased disturbances? We used the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector to simulate rate changes in disturbance, growth and decomposition on a hypothetical boreal forest landscape and to explore the impacts of these changes on landscape-level forest C budgets. We found that significant increases in net ecosystem production (NEP) would be required to balance C losses from increased natural disturbance rates. Moreover, increases in NEP would have to be sustained over several decades and be widespread across the landscape. Increased NEP can only be realized when NPP is enhanced relative to heterotrophic respiration. This study indicates that boreal forest C stocks may decline as a result of climate change because it would be difficult for enhanced growth to offset C losses resulting from anticipated increases in disturbances.

scholarly journals Using the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector (CBM-CFS3) to examine the impact of harvest and fire on carbon dynamics in selected forest types of the Canadian Boreal shield

2012 ◽  
Vol 88 (04) ◽  
pp. 426-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Luckai ◽  
G.R. Larocque ◽  
L. Archambault ◽  
D. Paré ◽  
R. Boutin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Budget ◽  
Jack Pine ◽  
Forest Sector ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Deep Soil ◽  
Budget Model ◽  
Carbon Budget Model ◽  
Fire Disturbances ◽  
Shallow Soils ◽  
The Impact

The objective of the study was to assess the responsiveness of the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector (CBM-CFS3) to management scenarios that included three rotation lengths (50, 100 and 250 years) under harvest and fire disturbances in six forest types (poplar deep soil, black spruce deep soil, jack pine deep and shallow soils, hardwood mixedwood and other conifer lowland). Outputs from five carbon (C) pools were considered: merchantable stemwood (stump height of 30 cm, minimum DBH of 9 cm and a minimum top diameter of 7 cm), deadwood, soil C, total ecosystem C and cumulative total ecosystem C emissions. Yield curves strongly affected the predicted size of all five pools. Longer rotation lengths led to larger pools with the relative differences between rotation lengths varying with stand types. Pools associated with poplar were usually the largest while those of jack pine on shallow sites were generally the smallest. When compared to the starting point of the simulations, cumulative total ecosystem C and C emissions increased with the 100- and 250-year harvest rotations (HARV100 and HARV250, respectively) and declined with the 50-year harvest rotation (HARV50). Fire disturbances resulted in stable pools of cumulative ecosystem C and declines in C emissions. CBM-CFS3 provided realistic pool values but the authors suggest further development of the model depiction of ecosystem processes, especially with respect to the treatment of respiration. In general, the authors recommend that forest management planners consider using an integrated approach that links multiple proven and accepted models under appropriate model linking software.

A practical approach for assessing the sensitivity of the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector (CBM-CFS3)

2008 ◽  
Vol 219 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 373-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas White ◽  
Nancy Luckai ◽  
Guy R. Larocque ◽  
Werner A. Kurz ◽  
Carolyn Smyth
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Budget ◽  
Practical Approach ◽  
Forest Sector ◽  
Budget Model ◽  
Carbon Budget Model

ENFOR - Energy from the forest

2001 ◽  
Vol 77 (5) ◽  
pp. 831-835 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Peter Hall ◽  
J. Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Budget ◽  
Forest Biomass ◽  
Forest Sector ◽  
Energy Delivery ◽  
Carbon Budget Model ◽  
Short Rotation ◽  
Production Technologies ◽  
Rotation Crops ◽  
Energy Plantations ◽  
Whole Tree Harvesting

The ENFOR program, in effect since 1978, is reviewed in light of its objectives and accomplishments. ENFOR has made a difference in forest science and our knowledge and understanding of forest biomass production and the technology to increase the use of forest bioenergy. ENFOR successes include the Forest Biomass Inventory of Canada; the FORCYTE Model; the understanding of whole-tree harvesting/nutrient cycling; the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector; and the development and testing of species, clones, and production technologies for energy plantations. The promotion of the program through various types of technology transfer in the field is a major success. ENFOR and its successor programs will strive for closer cooperation and integration of forest bioenergy activities and energy delivery systems, which should increase the supply of forest biomass while contributing to the reduction of environmental stress. Key words: bioenergy, short rotation crops

Carbon Profile of the Managed Forest Sector in Canada in the 20th Century: Sink or Source?

2014 ◽  
Vol 48 (16) ◽  
pp. 9859-9866 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiaxin Chen ◽  
Stephen J. Colombo ◽  
Michael T. Ter-Mikaelian ◽  
Linda S. Heath
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Forest Sector ◽  
Managed Forest ◽  
Carbon Profile

Reconstructing and modelling 71 years of forest growth in a Canadian boreal landscape: a test of the CBM-CFS3 carbon accounting model

2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Y. Bernier ◽  
L. Guindon ◽  
W. A. Kurz ◽  
G. Stinson
Keyword(s):  
Yield Curve ◽  
Forest Growth ◽  
Carbon Accounting ◽  
Total Carbon ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Forest Sector ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Carbon Budget Model ◽  
Accounting Model

We carried out a verification exercise of the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector (CBM-CFS3) carbon accounting model through the use of a reconstructed data set of forest growth and disturbances spanning a 71 year period (1928–1998) and encompassing a 62 km2 landscape of boreal forest in eastern Canada. Overall, results show that yield curve simulations using CBM-CFS3 underestimate realized net biomass accrual by 10% in undisturbed stands. The bias in disturbed stands may be slightly larger. Errors linked to the estimation of the initial 1928 merchantable volume and biomass through the operational forest photointerpretation and inventory procedure may be the largest single cause of the bias. The local application of regionally parameterized yield curves may also be at fault. It is unlikely that long-term trends in climate or atmospheric composition may have generated such bias. Analyses of changes in specific carbon pools and comparisons made with results from a similar exercise carried out in a Pacific coastal forest show a small relative impact on total carbon from forest management activities in the absence of natural disturbances.

scholarly journals Growing our future: Assessing the outcome of afforestation programs in Ontario, Canada

2021 ◽  
Vol 97 (02) ◽  
pp. 179-190
Author(s):  
Georgina K. Magnus ◽  
Elizabeth Celanowicz ◽  
Mihai Voicu ◽  
Mark Hafer ◽  
Juha M. Metsaranta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Spatially Explicit ◽  
Auxiliary Data ◽  
Carbon Budget Model ◽  
Change Mitigation

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) requires its signatories, including Canada, to estimate and report their annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals. Forests are an important natural resource as they slow the accumulation of atmospheric carbon through the process of carbon sequestration. Due to the role of forests as carbon sinks, governments consider afforestation projects as feasible climate change mitigation strategies. This article outlines a spatially-explicit approach to validating afforestation data in Ontario, Canada. Validation is a user-supervised process that uses satellite imagery, remote sensing tools, and other auxiliary data to confirm the presence of seedlings planted through Forests Ontario’s 50 Million Tree program. Of the 12 466 hectares assessed, 83% is identified as afforested, 6% is not afforested and 10% is not determined. The area classified as successful afforestation is used as input for the Generic Carbon Budget Model (GCBM), to simulate afforestation effects on carbon stocks. Our findings show the afforestation activities will create a small carbon sink by 2060. From this project, it is evident that spatial validation of afforestation data is feasible, although the collection of additional standardized auxiliary data is recommended for future afforestation projects, if carbon benefits are to be reported.

International Politics of Climate Change: A Study of Issues and Challenges

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Taku Maji ◽  
Rashida Ather
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Policy Issue ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
Climate Politics ◽  
International Climate ◽  
Climate Change Politics ◽  
International Climate Change

The problem of Climate Change has become an enormous political and policy issue, at the same time it is also a conceptual and deliberative challenge. Global temperature is increasing day by day because of human caused greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, and this warming is affecting both nature and human wellbeing. There is an urgent need to address the problem of climate change with all its related issues. While international environmental law has achieved notable successes and International legal programs to deal with climate change are already well underway. Indian climate politics continues to be focused on climate change as a foreign policy concern, and centred on climate negotiations; in a manner that is consistent with India’s development needs and foreign policy concerns. The present paper explores the international climate change politics; negotiation process and domestic policy. It also investigates the issues of fairness and equity in the international climate change law and policy.

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