Contributions of National Key Forestry Ecology Projects to the forest vegetation carbon storage in China

Abstract

Planted forests in China have continuously stored large amounts of vegetation carbon since the implementation of the National Key Forestry Ecology Projects (NKFEPs). However, the time variation of the contribution of NKFEP-covered planted forests to the national forest vegetation carbon storage has not been systematically documented. Moreover, predicting the future vegetation carbon storage of NKFEP-covered planted forests is of great significance for global climate change. Thus, we collected vegetation carbon density data on China’s forests from 251 published articles to clarify the contributions and vegetation carbon sequestration potential of NKFEP-covered planted forests. The results showed that the vegetation carbon density of NKFEP-covered planted forests ranged from 23.49 to 68.88 Mg ha−1, that slight differences existed among the NKFEP-covered planted forests during 2009–2018, and that slight changes occurred from 1989 to 2018. The total contribution rate of NKFEP-covered planted forests to China’s forest vegetation carbon storage was 36.29% during 2009–2018, and the contribution rates of most NKFEPs during 2009–2018 were higher than those during 1999–2008. The total vegetation carbon sequestration potential ranged from 4.22 to 8.67 Pg under four scenarios, in which NKFEP-covered planted forests contributed 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% of the vegetation carbon storage of natural forests in the corresponding NKFEP regions, respectively. These results indicate that NKFEP-covered planted forests significantly contribute to the vegetation carbon storage of China’s forests, and that NKFEP-covered planted forests have large vegetation carbon sequestration potential, which is beneficial for future national and global forest carbon fixation.