The influence of carbon budget methodology on assessments of the impacts of forest management on the carbon balance

Abstract

There is now a substantial body of literature in scientific journals on the carbon (C) balance of forest ecosystems at all geographical scales, and some authors have proposed changes in the way forests are managed in order to enhance the offsetting or reduction of emissions of C to the atmosphere. As yet, however, there is no widely accepted and applied method for estimating the C budget of forests and the impacts of forest management on C sequestration. This paper describes how the results of C budgeting exercises depend strongly on the methodologies employed, and briefly considers the scope for developing conventions for the calculation and presentation of C budgets for forest ecosystems and forestry projects. These points are illustrated using examples of model simulations of the effects of alternative methods of forest management in Britain, and by comparison of published results of studies in other countries based on different C budgeting methodologies.