Journal of Forest Economics > Vol 34 > Issue 1-2

Specifying Forest Sector Models for Forest Carbon Projections

David N. Wear, USDA Forest Service, USA, dwear@usda.gov , John W. Coulston, USDA Forest Service, USA
 
Suggested Citation
David N. Wear and John W. Coulston (2019), "Specifying Forest Sector Models for Forest Carbon Projections", Journal of Forest Economics: Vol. 34: No. 1-2, pp 73-97. http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/112.00000443

Publication Date: 07 Aug 2019
© 2019 D. N. Wear and J. W. Coulston
 
Subjects
 
Keywords
Forest productionAge transitionsIGreenhouse gas (GHG)Carbon sequestrationForest Inventory and Analysis (FIA)
 

Share

Login to download a free copy
In this article:
1. Introduction 
2. Generalized Model 
3. Methods 
4. Results 
5. Discussion 
6. Conclusions 
References 

Abstract

Forest sector models merge models of timber inputs and final wood products markets with biophysical models of forest dynamics to project forest futures. Comprehensive treatment of biophysical dynamics is required to address the product detail of timber markets and to track changes in forest carbon. We examine assumptions for existing Forest Inventory Projection Models and empirically examine the implications for forest carbon projections. We compare model results with observations from remeasured forest inventories in the eastern United States. Results show forest carbon projections are sensitive to non-harvest disturbances, ownership, and stand-origin. Additionally, bias can arise when forest carbon stocks are estimated using correlations between average stock density and biomass aggregates. Current forest inventories provide a dataset of consistently remeasured forest plot records that will increasingly support a strong empirical foundation for Forest Inventory Projection Models.

DOI:10.1561/112.00000443

Companion

Journal of Forest Economics, Volume 34, Issue 1-2 Special issue - State of the art methods to project forest carbon stocks: Articles Overiew
See the other articles that are part of this special issue.