Link: DOI: 10.1002/eap.2039
Summary: The authors use process models and ecological criteria to provide estimates of how much carbon high productivity-low vulnerability forests in the western United States can capture and store by century’s end. These forests are concentrated in the Pacific Northwest. Vulnerability was modeled with respect to fire and drought.
Key excerpts:
- “High-productivity, low-vulnerability forests have the potential to sequester up to 5,450 Tg CO2 equivalent (1,485 Tg C) by 2099, which is up to 20% of the global mitigation potential previously identified for all temperate and boreal forests, or up to ~6 yr of current regional fossil fuel emissions.”
- “Additionally, these forests currently have high above- and belowground carbon density, high tree species richness, and a high proportion of critical habitat for endangered vertebrate species, indicating a strong potential to support biodiversity into the future and promote ecosystem resilience to climate change.”