Harvest volumes and carbon stocks in boreal forests of Ontario, Canada

We used models to project forest carbon stocks for a series of harvesting scenarios for 29 boreal forest management units totalling 23.3 million ha in Ontario, Canada. Scenarios evaluated for 2020 to 2050 ranged from a no harvesting option to annual harvesting of 2% of the total merchantable volume...

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Main Authors: Michael T. Ter-Mikaelian, Stephen J. Colombo, Jiaxin Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Canadian Institute of Forestry 2021-06-01
Series:The Forestry Chronicle
Subjects:
Online Access:https://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/10.5558/tfc2021-018
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author Michael T. Ter-Mikaelian
Stephen J. Colombo
Jiaxin Chen
author_facet Michael T. Ter-Mikaelian
Stephen J. Colombo
Jiaxin Chen
author_sort Michael T. Ter-Mikaelian
collection DOAJ
description We used models to project forest carbon stocks for a series of harvesting scenarios for 29 boreal forest management units totalling 23.3 million ha in Ontario, Canada. Scenarios evaluated for 2020 to 2050 ranged from a no harvesting option to annual harvesting of 2% of the total merchantable volume present in 2020. For each scenario, we estimated the following carbon quantities: (a) forest ecosystem carbon stocks, (b) sum of carbon stocks in forest ecosystem and harvested wood products (HWP) minus emissions associated with HWP production and decomposition, and (c) net greenhouse gas (GHG) effects of harvesting estimated as (b) combined with emissions avoided by substituting HWP for non-wood materials. The average of each carbon quantity for 2020 to 2050 was linearly dependent on the annual harvest volume. The developed relationships were used to estimate harvest volumes for which the three carbon quantities would equal equilibrium forest ecosystem carbon stocks for a pre-suppression natural disturbance cycle. These estimates indicate the range of harvest volumes for which resulting carbon stocks would equal or exceed those in an unmanaged forest. Also discussed are possible criteria for determining annual harvest volume.
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spelling doaj-art-d5f8999aafbb4638bea0e4f1c6daf02c2025-08-20T03:39:00ZengCanadian Institute of ForestryThe Forestry Chronicle0015-75461499-93152021-06-01970216817810.5558/tfc2021-018Harvest volumes and carbon stocks in boreal forests of Ontario, CanadaMichael T. Ter-Mikaelian0Stephen J. Colombo1Jiaxin Chen2Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Ontario Forest Research Institute, 1235 Queen St. East, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario P6A 2E5Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Ontario Forest Research Institute, 1235 Queen St. East, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario P6A 2E5Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Ontario Forest Research Institute, 1235 Queen St. East, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario P6A 2E5We used models to project forest carbon stocks for a series of harvesting scenarios for 29 boreal forest management units totalling 23.3 million ha in Ontario, Canada. Scenarios evaluated for 2020 to 2050 ranged from a no harvesting option to annual harvesting of 2% of the total merchantable volume present in 2020. For each scenario, we estimated the following carbon quantities: (a) forest ecosystem carbon stocks, (b) sum of carbon stocks in forest ecosystem and harvested wood products (HWP) minus emissions associated with HWP production and decomposition, and (c) net greenhouse gas (GHG) effects of harvesting estimated as (b) combined with emissions avoided by substituting HWP for non-wood materials. The average of each carbon quantity for 2020 to 2050 was linearly dependent on the annual harvest volume. The developed relationships were used to estimate harvest volumes for which the three carbon quantities would equal equilibrium forest ecosystem carbon stocks for a pre-suppression natural disturbance cycle. These estimates indicate the range of harvest volumes for which resulting carbon stocks would equal or exceed those in an unmanaged forest. Also discussed are possible criteria for determining annual harvest volume.https://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/10.5558/tfc2021-018forest carbonmanaged forestharvested wood productsemissionscarbone forestierforêts aménagées
spellingShingle Michael T. Ter-Mikaelian
Stephen J. Colombo
Jiaxin Chen
Harvest volumes and carbon stocks in boreal forests of Ontario, Canada
The Forestry Chronicle
forest carbon
managed forest
harvested wood products
emissions
carbone forestier
forêts aménagées
title Harvest volumes and carbon stocks in boreal forests of Ontario, Canada
title_full Harvest volumes and carbon stocks in boreal forests of Ontario, Canada
title_fullStr Harvest volumes and carbon stocks in boreal forests of Ontario, Canada
title_full_unstemmed Harvest volumes and carbon stocks in boreal forests of Ontario, Canada
title_short Harvest volumes and carbon stocks in boreal forests of Ontario, Canada
title_sort harvest volumes and carbon stocks in boreal forests of ontario canada
topic forest carbon
managed forest
harvested wood products
emissions
carbone forestier
forêts aménagées
url https://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/10.5558/tfc2021-018
work_keys_str_mv AT michaelttermikaelian harvestvolumesandcarbonstocksinborealforestsofontariocanada
AT stephenjcolombo harvestvolumesandcarbonstocksinborealforestsofontariocanada
AT jiaxinchen harvestvolumesandcarbonstocksinborealforestsofontariocanada