Biomass storage in Swedish forests: A case of land use
(2020) In Student thesis series INES NGEM01 20201Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
- Abstract
- By storing carbon in the biosphere, forests are mitigating climate change. Primary forests have been found to have the potential to store large amounts of carbon, but no studies on carbon storage in Swedish primary forests have been published. This study shows that Swedish primary forests store more carbon in biomass than surrounding secondary forests in the majority of cases and on average. The results demonstrate that land use has a large impact on carbon storage in forests and that there is large potential to store carbon in primary forests.
Introduction
Forests are mitigating climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in the biosphere. Primary forests in particular have the potential to store... (More) - By storing carbon in the biosphere, forests are mitigating climate change. Primary forests have been found to have the potential to store large amounts of carbon, but no studies on carbon storage in Swedish primary forests have been published. This study shows that Swedish primary forests store more carbon in biomass than surrounding secondary forests in the majority of cases and on average. The results demonstrate that land use has a large impact on carbon storage in forests and that there is large potential to store carbon in primary forests.
Introduction
Forests are mitigating climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in the biosphere. Primary forests in particular have the potential to store large amounts of carbon and many are still accumulating carbon. Carbon storage in primary forests is also of interest as it may serve as a baseline against which to evaluate the effects of land use and land use change on carbon storage. However, uncertainties in terms of both historic and current carbon stocks are limiting our understanding of terrestrial carbon cycling and how it is affected by land use and land use change.
Aim and method
The main aim of this study was to estimate and compare the storage of living biomass in Swedish primary forests with the storage of living biomass in surrounding secondary forests. The estimates were made using a raster of remotely sensed vegetation biomass.
Results and discussion
Swedish primary forests stored more biomass than surrounding secondary forests, both on average and in the majority of cases. Difference between primary and secondary forest biomass storage was related to difference in stand age, indicating that biomass storage in primary forests is at least partly governed by age related processes. In addition, this study confirms previous findings of a biomass storage gradient along temperature, altitude, and latitude gradients.
The carbon storage in Swedish primary forests was similar to estimates for Europe in general and to that found in primary forests in the Nordics and the Baltics.
Conclusion
Land use has had a large impact on forest carbon storage in Sweden and there is large potential to store carbon in Swedish primary forests. (Less) - Popular Abstract (Swedish)
- Hur vi förvaltar skogen påverkar klimatet
Varför skogar är viktiga att undersöka och vad jag undersökte
Klimatförändringar påverkar redan såväl mänskliga som naturliga system över hela jordklotet, och de förväntas påverka dessa system även i framtiden. Eftersom skogar absorberar koldioxid från atmosfären och sedan lagrar den i biosfären har de en mildrande effekt på klimatförändringarna. Vad gäller just lagring av kol har det uppdagats att primärskogar, skogar som är relativt opåverkade av mänskliga aktiviteter, i många fall lagrar stora mängder kol – mer än vad som normalt lagras i sekundärskogar, skogar som förvaltas av människor i syfte att utvinna användbara material. Dessutom kan primärskogars kolförråd användas som... (More) - Hur vi förvaltar skogen påverkar klimatet
Varför skogar är viktiga att undersöka och vad jag undersökte
Klimatförändringar påverkar redan såväl mänskliga som naturliga system över hela jordklotet, och de förväntas påverka dessa system även i framtiden. Eftersom skogar absorberar koldioxid från atmosfären och sedan lagrar den i biosfären har de en mildrande effekt på klimatförändringarna. Vad gäller just lagring av kol har det uppdagats att primärskogar, skogar som är relativt opåverkade av mänskliga aktiviteter, i många fall lagrar stora mängder kol – mer än vad som normalt lagras i sekundärskogar, skogar som förvaltas av människor i syfte att utvinna användbara material. Dessutom kan primärskogars kolförråd användas som referenspunkter gentemot vilka effekter av markanvändning och förändrad markanvändning kan utvärderas. Mig veterligen har däremot inga undersökningar av lagring av kol i svenska primärskogar publicerats. I denna studie undersökte jag därför hur mycket kol som lagras i levande biomassa i svenska primärskogar och jämförde detta med hur mycket kol som lagras i levande biomassa i omkringliggande sekundärskogar.
Svenska primärskogar kan lagra betydande mängder kol
Undersökningarna byggde på kartografiskt material som beskriver skogsbiomassa över nästintill hela Sverige, och resultaten visade att de svenska primärskogarna lagrar mer kol än omgivande sekundärskogar både i genomsnitt och i majoriteten av fall. Skillnaderna i kolförrådens storlek visar att markanvändning har stor påverkan på lagring av kol i svenska skogar och att det finns potential att lagra stora mängder kol i svenska primärskogar. Inte minst det faktum att den primärskog med störst kolförråd lagrade dubbelt så mycket kol som den sekundärskog med störst kolförråd visar att svenska primärskogar har potential att lagra betydande mängder kol om förhållandena är gynnsamma.
Varför lagrar primärskogar mer kol än sekundärskogar?
Det är inte helt klarlagt vad som ligger bakom de relativt stora kolförråden i primärskogar. Vad denna studie däremot kunde påvisa var att de relativt sett större kolförråden i primärskogarna åtminstone till viss del är ett resultat av att primärskogar tillåts bli äldre än sekundärskogar. Dessutom påvisades det att i de fall primärskogarna överlag hade brantare sluttningar än de omgivande sekundärskogarna ökade även kolförråden i primärskogarna relativt mot sekundärskogarna. Denna studie indikerade alltså att mindre åtkomliga primärskogar lagrar mer kol än de mer lättåtkomliga, och detta samband är möjligen en konsekvens av att svåråtkomliga skogar inte utnyttjats av människor i lika stor utsträckning som lättåtkomliga skogar.
Official/English title: Biomass storage in Swedish forests: A case of land use (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9019982
- author
- Johannesson, Carl-Fredrik LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- NGEM01 20201
- year
- 2020
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Physical Geography, Ecosystem analysis, Forest biomass, Biomass storage, Forest carbon, Carbon storage, Carbon cycling, Land use, Primary forest
- publication/series
- Student thesis series INES
- report number
- 520
- language
- English
- id
- 9019982
- date added to LUP
- 2020-06-18 15:24:18
- date last changed
- 2020-06-18 15:24:18
@misc{9019982,
abstract = {{By storing carbon in the biosphere, forests are mitigating climate change. Primary forests have been found to have the potential to store large amounts of carbon, but no studies on carbon storage in Swedish primary forests have been published. This study shows that Swedish primary forests store more carbon in biomass than surrounding secondary forests in the majority of cases and on average. The results demonstrate that land use has a large impact on carbon storage in forests and that there is large potential to store carbon in primary forests.
Introduction
Forests are mitigating climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in the biosphere. Primary forests in particular have the potential to store large amounts of carbon and many are still accumulating carbon. Carbon storage in primary forests is also of interest as it may serve as a baseline against which to evaluate the effects of land use and land use change on carbon storage. However, uncertainties in terms of both historic and current carbon stocks are limiting our understanding of terrestrial carbon cycling and how it is affected by land use and land use change.
Aim and method
The main aim of this study was to estimate and compare the storage of living biomass in Swedish primary forests with the storage of living biomass in surrounding secondary forests. The estimates were made using a raster of remotely sensed vegetation biomass.
Results and discussion
Swedish primary forests stored more biomass than surrounding secondary forests, both on average and in the majority of cases. Difference between primary and secondary forest biomass storage was related to difference in stand age, indicating that biomass storage in primary forests is at least partly governed by age related processes. In addition, this study confirms previous findings of a biomass storage gradient along temperature, altitude, and latitude gradients.
The carbon storage in Swedish primary forests was similar to estimates for Europe in general and to that found in primary forests in the Nordics and the Baltics.
Conclusion
Land use has had a large impact on forest carbon storage in Sweden and there is large potential to store carbon in Swedish primary forests.}},
author = {{Johannesson, Carl-Fredrik}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
series = {{Student thesis series INES}},
title = {{Biomass storage in Swedish forests: A case of land use}},
year = {{2020}},
}