Alan,
I think your description of what is happening in forests is correct.
And it seems to say “use the regular forests (but not those in the major parks, etc). If not, they will eventually stop removing CO2 when they are mature because then they actually lose as much CO2 as they take in.”
How to “use the forests” to benefit climate concerns”:
1. Wood to replace fossil fuel (an energy approach),
2. Wood to become biochar (sequestration of fixed carbon in soils or other quite permanent destinations.)
3. Is there a third and fourth and more ways?
Is this too simplistic? Anyone, please express it better.
Paul
Doc / Dr TLUD / Paul S. Anderson, PhD
Exec. Dir. of Juntos Energy Solutions NFP
Email: psanders@ilstu.edu<mailto:psanders@ilstu.edu> Skype: paultlud
Phone: Office: 309-452-7072 Mobile: 309-531-4434
Website: www.drtlud.com<www.drtlud.com>
From: biochar@yahoogroups.com <biochar@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, May 27, 2019 4:30 PM
To: biochar@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [biochar] Is There a More Climate-Friendly Way to Manage Our Forests? – Pacific Standard
The article seems to focus on large trees as carbon storage organs – they are!, but they leak and so does the whole process of growing a forest. The only ways to reduce the leaks are to keep the forest healthy and recover the mortality before it rots.
Carbon uptake happens at a much faster rate when the trees are small and actively growing. Unless there is something very special happening in a forest of large trees they generally are growing very slowly – they do not pick up much carbon and when a large tree dies there is a tremendous loss in one event.
Young forests frequently start with over 500,000 seedlings per acre (and this same seeding level may occur regularly over the life of a forest as well). Most of these new seedlings quickly die as the ones situated most favorably become bigger and shade or compete successfully. The remaining seedlings grow through stages where the mortality occurs in stages. So the forest goes from 20,000 stems to 2,000 stems in a decade or so and the forest is still to thick to walk through it may take several decades to a century for such a stand to naturally lose the next 1800 or more individuals. If none of these stems are recovered the carbon loss will be nearly as much as is retained.
Rapid carbon recovery and long term retention then requires that the trees present are always growing rapidly and that the weaker trees are always recovered before they do more than dry out.
This process occurs regardless of the climate situation, however, as damaging winds and snow or ice loads become more prevalent it will become more challenging to do anything right.
Alan C. Page, Ph.D., Research Forester – MA License #184
Green Diamond Systems
125 Blue Meadow Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Phone: 413-323-4401
Cell: 413-883-9642Blog: Common Good Dialog
Website: Common Good Forestry
Website: Common Good Forest Products
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