Show simple item record

dc.contributor.authorKeith, Heather
dc.contributor.authorMackey, Brendan G
dc.contributor.authorLindenmayer, David B
dc.date.accessioned2019-02-22T05:07:55Z
dc.date.available2019-02-22T05:07:55Z
dc.date.issued2009
dc.date.modified2012-04-10T22:36:14Z
dc.identifier.issn0027-8424
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10072/44353
dc.description.abstractFrom analysis of published global site biomass data (n = 136) from primary forests, we discovered (i) the world's highest known total biomass carbon density (living plus dead) of 1,867 tonnes carbon per ha (average value from 13 sites) occurs in Australian temperate moist Eucalyptus regnans forests, and (ii) average values of the global site biomass data were higher for sampled temperate moist forests (n = 44) than for sampled tropical (n = 36) and boreal (n = 52) forests (n is number of sites per forest biome). Spatially averaged Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change biome default values are lower than our average site values for temperate moist forests, because the temperate biome contains a diversity of forest ecosystem types that support a range of mature carbon stocks or have a long land-use history with reduced carbon stocks. We describe a framework for identifying forests important for carbon storage based on the factors that account for high biomass carbon densities, including (i) relatively cool temperatures and moderately high precipitation producing rates of fast growth but slow decomposition, and (ii) older forests that are often multiaged and multilayered and have experienced minimal human disturbance. Our results are relevant to negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change regarding forest conservation, management, and restoration. Conserving forests with large stocks of biomass from deforestation and degradation avoids significant carbon emissions to the atmosphere, irrespective of the source country, and should be among allowable mitigation activities. Similarly, management that allows restoration of a forest's carbon sequestration potential also should be recognized.
dc.description.peerreviewedYes
dc.description.publicationstatusYes
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherNational Academy of Sciences
dc.publisher.placeUnited States
dc.publisher.urihttps://www.jstor.org/
dc.relation.ispartofstudentpublicationN
dc.relation.ispartofpagefrom11635
dc.relation.ispartofpageto11640
dc.relation.ispartofissue28
dc.relation.ispartofjournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
dc.relation.ispartofvolume106
dc.rights.retentionY
dc.subject.fieldofresearchOther environmental sciences not elsewhere classified
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode419999
dc.titleRe-evaluation of forest biomass carbon stocks and lessons from the world's most carbon-dense forests
dc.typeJournal article
dc.type.descriptionC1 - Articles
dc.type.codeC - Journal Articles
gro.date.issued2009
gro.hasfulltextNo Full Text
gro.griffith.authorMackey, Brendan
gro.griffith.authorKeith, Heather


Files in this item

FilesSizeFormatView

There are no files associated with this item.

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

  • Journal articles
    Contains articles published by Griffith authors in scholarly journals.

Show simple item record