Incorporating Carbon Storage into Forest Management in Michigan: A Modeling Based Scenario Analysis

Forest Ecosystems;Carbon Storage;Assess the Impacts of Forest Management Decisions on Forest Composition;Tree Species and Size Diversity;Stand Economic Value;and C Storage;Natural Resources and Environment

Lindauer-Thompson, AliciaHelfand, Gloria ;

University of Michigan

关键词: Forest Ecosystems;    Carbon Storage;    Assess the Impacts of Forest Management Decisions on Forest Composition;    Tree Species and Size Diversity;    Stand Economic Value;    and C Storage;    Natural Resources and Environment;   

Others  :  https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/60559/Lindauer-Thompson_SNREThesis_August2008.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

Forest ecosystems play an important role in the global carbon (C) cycle, as they can beboth a sink for and a source of atmospheric CO2. State owned forests in Michigan are dominatedby early successional Aspen trees and are frequently managed to maintain Aspen dominance.Here, I developed a model that allows a user to assess the impacts of forest managementdecisions on forest composition, tree species and size diversity, stand economic value, and Cstorage. The model, MITRIX, pairs an empirical growth model with a C accounting model andwas specifically designed to be useful to forest managers in Michigan to assess the tradeoffsencountered in meeting diverse management goals while incorporating the relatively recent goalof stabilizing or increasing C storage. Inventory and sale data from the Michigan DNR and fielddata from the University of Michigan Biological Station were obtained for model developmentand validation. Validation showed that the model accurately simulates forest stand growth andsuccession. Model simulations suggested that C storage is maximized when an Aspen dominatedstand is allowed to succeed to a later successional species cover. If an Aspen stand is to bemaintained, increasing the rotation period results in a greater overall C storage. When alandscape-based management approach is taken, timber profits, species diversity, and stand Cstorage are all stabilized. With a 200 year frame of analysis, the price of C necessary to balanceopportunity costs was $22-26 per metric ton. However, when the time frame of analysis wasshortened, this price was considerably higher. The 2008 Michigan state forest plan includes Cstorage in forest management objectives. The results suggest that considering C storage inMichigan forests will affect stand management decisions and the model described here is auseful tool to assess the impact of altered management strategies.