HR: 1340h
AN: GC23A-0996    [Abstracts]
TI: Regional Differences in Carbon Storage Based on Distribution of Forest Age across Russia Using the FAREAST Gap Model and Detailed Forest Inventory Data
AU: * Shuman, J K
EM: shumanjk@virginia.edu
AF: University of Virginia, Department of Environmental Sciences, Clark Hall, 291 McCormick Road, PO Box 400123, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4123, United States
AU: Krankina, O N
EM: olga.krankina@oregonstate.edu
AF: Oregon State University, Department of Forest Sciences, 202 Richardson Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331-5752, United States
AU: Shugart, H H
EM: hhs@virginia.edu
AF: University of Virginia, Department of Environmental Sciences, Clark Hall, 291 McCormick Road, PO Box 400123, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4123, United States
AB: The FAREAST model, an individual-based forest-dynamics model, was developed to simulate forests of Changbai Mountain in northern China. It was then applied to forests at selected sites in Siberia and the Russian Far East. More recently, the model was used to generate results for expected biomass and species composition of mature forest landscapes for 223 sites across all of Russia. After these results were published, we became aware of actual forest survey data (developed by one of the authors, Krankina) arranged in 10-year intervals based on the age of the forest. Age in this case refers the age of the dominant tree cohort in a stand. These data were in percent coverage of total forest area surveyed for 36 forest sites aggregated in three regions denoted the northwest, south, and far eastern regions of Russia. This presented the opportunity to predict an expected biomass for the three regions corrected for age structure. The original simulation data was sorted to match the field data for regional forest age-cohort structure of the three regions. Thirty-four simulation sites from the original paper were distributed in the three regions used in the field study. This simulation data was re-compiled as biomass (tCha-1) for simulation plots summed at each 10 year interval from year zero to mature forests (250 years) and multiplied times the relative percent coverage in each age category. Using the expected biomass for the three regions derived from the inventory data, we obtain a picture of the current carbon storage across Russia. The potential change in carbon storage for these regions was found by calculating the difference between the expected biomass of a mature forest (250 years), the current forest state (derived from inventory data), and a managed forest condition characterized by an even distribution of age cohorts for each 10-year interval. The simulation biomass data was validated using novel cohort data arranged according to species biomass (tCha-1) from the inventory data for 43 forests across Russia (developed by Krankina) and 46 simulation sites sorted to match the field data. Transition of the regions from the current forest state to 100% mature forest (250 years) resulted in an accumulation of 9.075 tCha-1 in the east region of Russia, a loss of 0.206 tCha-1 in the southern region, and an accumulation of 36.266 tCha-1 in the northwest region. Alternately, a transition of the forest from the current state to an even distribution of age cohorts resulted in an accumulation of only 0.223 tCha-1 in the east region of Russia, 2.744 tCha-1 in the southern region, and a loss of 6.903 tCha-1 in the northwest region.
DE: 0400 BIOGEOSCIENCES
DE: 0428 Carbon cycling (4806)
DE: 0466 Modeling
SC: Global Environmental Change [GC]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting