Natural and social dimensions of forest carbon accounting
(2018)- Abstract
- Global forests store large amounts of carbon both in living biomass and in the soil. The ability of forests to counteract climate change by acting as carbon sinks have been recognized in global climate politics, such as the 2015 Paris agreement which calls for national commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Sweden is one of many countries who have pledged ambitious climate goals, promising to achieve net zero emissions by 2045. To achieve this goal, greenhouse gas emissions must be balanced by uptake of carbon dioxide in natural ecosystems such as forests. Active management is important in determining the forests’ ability to mitigate climate change, but the trade-off between climate benefits, economic values and biodiversity have... (More)
- Global forests store large amounts of carbon both in living biomass and in the soil. The ability of forests to counteract climate change by acting as carbon sinks have been recognized in global climate politics, such as the 2015 Paris agreement which calls for national commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Sweden is one of many countries who have pledged ambitious climate goals, promising to achieve net zero emissions by 2045. To achieve this goal, greenhouse gas emissions must be balanced by uptake of carbon dioxide in natural ecosystems such as forests. Active management is important in determining the forests’ ability to mitigate climate change, but the trade-off between climate benefits, economic values and biodiversity have to be considered. To be effective, climate related decision-making requires an understanding of forest dynamics as well as knowing the spatial and temporal distribution of forest carbon sinks and sources.
Several approaches are available for monitoring of forest carbon fluxes. Sample based field inventories form the basis for the collection of forest information in most countries. Remote sensing offers the ability to map forests with high resolution, and process-based computer models can simulate the behavior of forest ecosystems and predict their response to future climate and changes in management. The aim of this thesis is to study the impact of different approaches on forest carbon monitoring, and suggest how they can be combined to enhance the results by utilizing the strengths of the respective methods. The potential of technological advances in remote sensing and modeling application is related to the needs of the Swedish forestry sector identified by interviews, and an approach is presented for verifying carbon flux estimates versus tower measurements of carbon dioxide concentrations. The results highlight the differences between methodological approaches for forest carbon monitoring, both regarding their impact when estimating regional carbon budgets and implications at the international political arena. Process-based modeling informed by remote sensing and/or field inventory data is shown to be an efficient tool for simulating the spatial distribution of Swedish forest carbon fluxes that can deliver the demands for increased forest information.
(Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Världens skogar lagrar stora mängder kol både som levande biomassa och i marken. Skogarnas förmåga att motverka klimatförändring genom att fungera som kolsänkor har erkänts inom global klimatpolitik, till exempel Parisavtalet från 2015 vilket uppmanar länder att minska sina utsläpp av växthusgaser. Sverige är ett av flera länder med ambitiösa målsättningar och har lovat att inte ha några nettoutsläpp efter 2045. För att uppnå detta mål krävs att utsläpp av växthusgaser balanseras av upptag av koldioxid i de naturliga ekosystemen som exempelvis skogsmark. Aktiv skötsel kan starkt påverka skogens förmåga att bromsa klimatförändringar, men balansen mellan klimatpåverkan, ekonomiska intressen och värden kopplade till biologisk mångfald måste... (More)
- Världens skogar lagrar stora mängder kol både som levande biomassa och i marken. Skogarnas förmåga att motverka klimatförändring genom att fungera som kolsänkor har erkänts inom global klimatpolitik, till exempel Parisavtalet från 2015 vilket uppmanar länder att minska sina utsläpp av växthusgaser. Sverige är ett av flera länder med ambitiösa målsättningar och har lovat att inte ha några nettoutsläpp efter 2045. För att uppnå detta mål krävs att utsläpp av växthusgaser balanseras av upptag av koldioxid i de naturliga ekosystemen som exempelvis skogsmark. Aktiv skötsel kan starkt påverka skogens förmåga att bromsa klimatförändringar, men balansen mellan klimatpåverkan, ekonomiska intressen och värden kopplade till biologisk mångfald måste beaktas. För att kunna fatta effektiva klimatrelaterade beslut krävs en förståelse om skogens processer och kännedom om skogliga kolkällor och sänkors variation över tid och rum.
Det finns ett flertal tillvägagångssätt för att övervaka skog. Provytebaserade fältinventeringar utgör grunden i de flesta länders skogsinventeringar. Fjärranalys ger möjlighet att kartlägga skogarna med hög upplösning, och processbaserade datormodeller kan simulera hur skogliga ekosystem beter sig och förutsäga deras påverkan av framtida klimat och ändrad skogsskötsel. Syftet med denna avhandling är att studera vilken inverkan olika tillvägagångssätt för att kvantifiera skogens kolflöden har, och att föreslå hur de kan kombineras för att förbättra resultaten genom att utnyttja egenskaperna hos respektive metod. Möjligheterna av nya tillämpningar inom fjärranalys och modellering sätts i relation till behov som identifierats genom en intervjustudie inom den svenska skogssektorn, och en metod presenteras för att verifiera beräknade kolflöden genom jämförelser med mastbaserade mätningar av atmosfäriska koldioxidkoncentrationer. Resultaten belyser skillnader som finns, både för metodernas påverkan av resultaten för lokala kolberäkningar och deras implikationer inom internationell klimatpolitik. Process-baserad modellering, understödd av data från fjärranalys och/eller fältinventeringar, visas vara ett lämpligt verktyg för att beskriva den rumsliga variationen av kolflöden inom svensk skog och som kan tillgodose ett ökande behov av skoglig information.
(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/3c1baec4-31e7-41b5-ae05-92041ca97c4a
- author
- Dubber, Wilhelm LU
- supervisor
-
- Fredrik Lagergren LU
- Lars Eklundh LU
- Benjamin Smith LU
- opponent
-
- Professor Turner, David, Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA
- organization
- publishing date
- 2018
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Forest carbon fluxes, REDD+, boreal forest, LPJ-GUESS, BIOME-BGC, remote sensing
- pages
- 116 pages
- publisher
- Lund University, Faculty of Science, Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
- defense location
- Lecture hall “Pangea”, Geocentrum II, Sölvegatan 12, Lund
- defense date
- 2018-05-30 10:00:00
- ISBN
- 978-91-85793-92-1
- 978-91-85793-91-4
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 3c1baec4-31e7-41b5-ae05-92041ca97c4a
- date added to LUP
- 2018-05-04 15:22:18
- date last changed
- 2019-05-17 13:48:44
@phdthesis{3c1baec4-31e7-41b5-ae05-92041ca97c4a,
abstract = {{Global forests store large amounts of carbon both in living biomass and in the soil. The ability of forests to counteract climate change by acting as carbon sinks have been recognized in global climate politics, such as the 2015 Paris agreement which calls for national commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Sweden is one of many countries who have pledged ambitious climate goals, promising to achieve net zero emissions by 2045. To achieve this goal, greenhouse gas emissions must be balanced by uptake of carbon dioxide in natural ecosystems such as forests. Active management is important in determining the forests’ ability to mitigate climate change, but the trade-off between climate benefits, economic values and biodiversity have to be considered. To be effective, climate related decision-making requires an understanding of forest dynamics as well as knowing the spatial and temporal distribution of forest carbon sinks and sources.<br/>Several approaches are available for monitoring of forest carbon fluxes. Sample based field inventories form the basis for the collection of forest information in most countries. Remote sensing offers the ability to map forests with high resolution, and process-based computer models can simulate the behavior of forest ecosystems and predict their response to future climate and changes in management. The aim of this thesis is to study the impact of different approaches on forest carbon monitoring, and suggest how they can be combined to enhance the results by utilizing the strengths of the respective methods. The potential of technological advances in remote sensing and modeling application is related to the needs of the Swedish forestry sector identified by interviews, and an approach is presented for verifying carbon flux estimates versus tower measurements of carbon dioxide concentrations. The results highlight the differences between methodological approaches for forest carbon monitoring, both regarding their impact when estimating regional carbon budgets and implications at the international political arena. Process-based modeling informed by remote sensing and/or field inventory data is shown to be an efficient tool for simulating the spatial distribution of Swedish forest carbon fluxes that can deliver the demands for increased forest information.<br/>}},
author = {{Dubber, Wilhelm}},
isbn = {{978-91-85793-92-1}},
keywords = {{Forest carbon fluxes; REDD+; boreal forest; LPJ-GUESS; BIOME-BGC; remote sensing}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Lund University, Faculty of Science, Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science}},
school = {{Lund University}},
title = {{Natural and social dimensions of forest carbon accounting}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/42603882/Thesis.pdf}},
year = {{2018}},
}