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COMPARISON OF TWO METHODS TO ASSESS THE CARBON BUDGET OF FOREST BIOMES IN THE FORMER SOVIET UNION
Citation:
Kochugina, T. AND T. Vinson. COMPARISON OF TWO METHODS TO ASSESS THE CARBON BUDGET OF FOREST BIOMES IN THE FORMER SOVIET UNION. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-94/166.
Description:
The sink of CO2 and the carbon budget of forest biomes of the former Soviet Union (FSU) were assess with two distinct approaches: 1) ecosystem/ecoregional, and 2) forest statistical data. he ecosystem/ ecoregional approach was based on the integration of ecoregions (defined with a GIS analysis of several maps) with soil/vegetation carbon data bases. he forest statistical data approach was based on growing stock, annual increment of timber, and FSU yield tables. pplying the ecosystem/ecoregional approach the area of forest biomes in the FSU was estimated at 1426.1 Mha(10 6 hectares); forest ecosystems comprised 799.9 Mha, non-forest ecosystems and arable land comprised 506.1 and 119.9 Mha, respectively. he FSU forested area was 28 percent of the global area of closed forests. orest phytomass, mortmass, total forest vegetation, and NIV (net increment in vegetation) were estimated at 57.9 t C/ha-1, 15.5 t C/ha-1, 73.4 t C/ha-1, and 1.0 t C/ha-1/yr-1, respectively. ased on an average value of net ecosystem productivity from the two methods, and following a consideration of anthropogenic influences, FSU forests were estimated to be a net sink of approximately 0.5 Gt C yr-1 of atmospheric carbon.