Logging and old-growth management are not necessarily mutually exclusive. In some forests with an old-growth or mature component, thinning can reduce competition from younger trees that have "invaded" due to a lack of natural, low-intensity fire, boosting the health and resilience of the remaining trees. This practice ought to count as improved forest management.
Hello Steve. Yes, I tend to think about wet coastal forests (that's where I've worked most), but in inland/interior forests, restoration activities can be very beneficial from a carbon perspective - they reduce the chance of catastrophic wildfire. Thanks for the comment.
Another very good summary of a tricky topic. I think a key point is that every forest will have a different ability to sequester carbon and different levels of additional icy. Conservation is probably a great carbon strategy for wetter and long lived forests but less viable in fire prone ecosystems. And...the level of carbon storage from forest management will depend on how the fibre is used. The more volume that goes to long lived wood products, and the less that goes to short term storage (such as pulp and paper), the greater the carbon storage benefit from sustainable forest management.
Hi Kevin, thanks for the comment. Regarding fire, carbon credit programs set aside some extra land to use as a type of "buffer" against unplanned losses. However, whether this buffer has been enough in some regions (i.e. California) is subject to debate.
Logging and old-growth management are not necessarily mutually exclusive. In some forests with an old-growth or mature component, thinning can reduce competition from younger trees that have "invaded" due to a lack of natural, low-intensity fire, boosting the health and resilience of the remaining trees. This practice ought to count as improved forest management.
Hello Steve. Yes, I tend to think about wet coastal forests (that's where I've worked most), but in inland/interior forests, restoration activities can be very beneficial from a carbon perspective - they reduce the chance of catastrophic wildfire. Thanks for the comment.
Another very good summary of a tricky topic. I think a key point is that every forest will have a different ability to sequester carbon and different levels of additional icy. Conservation is probably a great carbon strategy for wetter and long lived forests but less viable in fire prone ecosystems. And...the level of carbon storage from forest management will depend on how the fibre is used. The more volume that goes to long lived wood products, and the less that goes to short term storage (such as pulp and paper), the greater the carbon storage benefit from sustainable forest management.
Hi Kevin, thanks for the comment. Regarding fire, carbon credit programs set aside some extra land to use as a type of "buffer" against unplanned losses. However, whether this buffer has been enough in some regions (i.e. California) is subject to debate.