Forest Soil and Climate Change

Abstract

Climate change affects forests, and forests affect climate change; they are linked together. Changes in global climate cause stresses on forests through elevated temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and more frequent and extreme weather events. On the other hand, forests and the wood they produce trap and store carbon dioxide (CO2), playing a major role in mitigating climate change. Actually, forests play multiple and vital roles in climate change: (i) they are a great reservoir of stabilized carbon, and their carbon sequestration potential can considerably be improved by appropriate management; (ii) they have the potential to absorb about one-tenth of global carbon emissions projected for the first half of this century into their biomass, soils, and products, and store them; (iii) they react sensitively to a changing climate, and when managed sustainably, they produce wood fuels as a benign alternative to fossil fuels; and (iv) they currently contribute about one-sixth of global carbon emissions when cleared, overused, or degraded. Forest soils constitute a large stock of carbon. By soil respiration, decomposition, and burning, a substantial amount of CO2 would be produced from the soil. Thus, forest soils may act as both a source and a sink of carbon dioxide. At present, however, they are carbon sinks on a global scale. Carbon sequestration in forest soils would decrease the rate of enrichment of atmospheric concentration of CO2. Increase in C stock of forest soils can be achieved through forest management, including forest conservation, fire management, afforestation, species selection, fertilizer use, and soil amendments. Forest harvesting and deforestation may decrease C stock, at least temporarily.