Has fire suppression increased the amount of carbon stored in western U.S. forests?
Active 20th century fire suppression in western US forests, and a resulting increase in stem density, is thought to account for a significant fraction of the North American carbon sink. We compared California forest inventories from the 1930s with inventories from the 1990s to quantify changes in ab...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2008-06-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL033965 |
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| _version_ | 1850271108407754752 |
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| author | Aaron W. Fellows Michael L. Goulden |
| author_facet | Aaron W. Fellows Michael L. Goulden |
| author_sort | Aaron W. Fellows |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Active 20th century fire suppression in western US forests, and a resulting increase in stem density, is thought to account for a significant fraction of the North American carbon sink. We compared California forest inventories from the 1930s with inventories from the 1990s to quantify changes in aboveground biomass. Stem density in mid‐montane conifer forests increased by 34%, while live aboveground carbon stocks decreased by 26%. Increased stem density reflected an increase in the number of small trees and a net loss of large trees. Large trees contain a disproportionate amount of carbon, and the loss of large trees accounts for the decline in biomass between surveys. 20th century fire suppression and increasing stand density may have decreased, rather than increased, the amount of aboveground carbon in western US forests. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-dd1785c25f884e8ca77adad81aa9532b |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2008-06-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-dd1785c25f884e8ca77adad81aa9532b2025-08-20T01:52:19ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072008-06-013512n/an/a10.1029/2008GL033965Has fire suppression increased the amount of carbon stored in western U.S. forests?Aaron W. Fellows0Michael L. Goulden1Department of Earth System Science University of California Irvine California USADepartment of Earth System Science University of California Irvine California USAActive 20th century fire suppression in western US forests, and a resulting increase in stem density, is thought to account for a significant fraction of the North American carbon sink. We compared California forest inventories from the 1930s with inventories from the 1990s to quantify changes in aboveground biomass. Stem density in mid‐montane conifer forests increased by 34%, while live aboveground carbon stocks decreased by 26%. Increased stem density reflected an increase in the number of small trees and a net loss of large trees. Large trees contain a disproportionate amount of carbon, and the loss of large trees accounts for the decline in biomass between surveys. 20th century fire suppression and increasing stand density may have decreased, rather than increased, the amount of aboveground carbon in western US forests.https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL033965North American carbon sinkfire suppressionforest thickening |
| spellingShingle | Aaron W. Fellows Michael L. Goulden Has fire suppression increased the amount of carbon stored in western U.S. forests? Geophysical Research Letters North American carbon sink fire suppression forest thickening |
| title | Has fire suppression increased the amount of carbon stored in western U.S. forests? |
| title_full | Has fire suppression increased the amount of carbon stored in western U.S. forests? |
| title_fullStr | Has fire suppression increased the amount of carbon stored in western U.S. forests? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Has fire suppression increased the amount of carbon stored in western U.S. forests? |
| title_short | Has fire suppression increased the amount of carbon stored in western U.S. forests? |
| title_sort | has fire suppression increased the amount of carbon stored in western u s forests |
| topic | North American carbon sink fire suppression forest thickening |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL033965 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT aaronwfellows hasfiresuppressionincreasedtheamountofcarbonstoredinwesternusforests AT michaellgoulden hasfiresuppressionincreasedtheamountofcarbonstoredinwesternusforests |