Welcome to the Forest Carbon Website Toolbox!

This page provides auxiliary information for a publication entitled “How to Estimate Forest Carbon from Inventory Data”, which is submitted to Journal of Forestry. The goal of this publication is to provide methods for calculating carbon stocks in forests based on forest inventory data, with an emphasis on carbon pool estimates from FORCARB2 and inventory data collected by the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis Program.

How to estimate forest carbon from inventory data, by James E. Smith, Linda S. Heath, and Peter B. Woodbury.

Abstract:

Large amounts of carbon dioxide are removed from the atmosphere by forests. Carbon sequestration through forest growth provides a low-cost approach for meeting state and national goals to address potential climate change by reducing net accumulation of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Determining the level of carbon stocks in forest ecosystems has become a concern of governments, businesses, and many organizations. This article provides examples of inventory-based calculations and identifies the information resources that are available for analysts and planners to develop large-scale carbon estimates consistent with totals for U.S. forests.


Supplemental material for Tables 1 through 6

• Expanded Version of Table 1. Estimates of carbon mass density (metric tons carbon per hectare) in live trees based on forest type and stand size class data for timberlands.
  Click here for an MS Excel spreadsheet file: expandedTable1.xls  (72 kb)
   
• Expanded Version of Table 2. Estimates of carbon mass density (metric tons carbon per hectare) according to carbon pool, based on forest type.
  Click here for a MS Excel spreadsheet file: expandedTable2.xls  (64 kb)
   
• Supplemental information for Table 3. Coefficients for estimating stand-level tree biomass density based on growing stock volume. Coefficients for stand-level volume-to-biomass estimates from Tables 3 through 10 of Smith et al. 2003.
  
  Identify forest types Click here for an Adobe Acrobat file: NE298_Table1.pdf  (218kb)
  
  Scale correction factors Click here for an Adobe Acrobat file: scalecorrection_Aug03.pdf  (197 kb)
  
  Volume-to-biomass coefficients Click here for a MS Excel spreadsheet file: NE298_coefficients_T3-10.xls  (218 kb)
   
• Supplemental information for Table 4. Coefficients for estimating carbon mass from volume of wood, based on average stand-level specific gravity of merchantable wood.
  Click here for an Adobe Acrobat file: vol2carbon.pdf   (470 kb)
   
• Supplemental information for Table 5. Coefficients for estimating stand-level mass density in standing dead trees based on live tree biomass density and growing stock volume. Coefficients for stand-level volume-to-biomass estimates from Tables 3 through 10 of Smith et al. 2003.
  
  Identify forest types Click here for an Adobe Acrobat file: NE298_Table1.pdf  (88 kb)
  
  Scale correction factors Click here for an Adobe Acrobat file: scalecorrection_Aug03.pdf  (197 kb)
  
  Volume-to-biomass coefficients Click here for a MS Excel spreadsheet file: NE298_coefficients_T3-10.xls  (218 kb)
   
• Expanded Version of Table 6. Forest floor carbon coefficients mostly from Table 4 of Smith and Heath 2002. Coefficients to define modeled relationship between forest age and forest floor carbon mass (Mg/ha) for each combination of forest type by region. Columns A and B define net accumulation with age, and C and D describe the decay curve. Regrowth is the sum of accumulation and decay.
  Click here for an Adobe Acrobat file: NE-722_Table4.pdf  (65 kb)

Literature Cited:

1. Smith, J. E., and L. S. Heath. 2002. A model of forest floor carbon mass for United States forest types. Research Paper NE-722. Newtown Square, PA: USDA Forest Service.

2. Smith, James E.; Heath, Linda S.; Jenkins, Jennifer C. 2003. Forest volume-to-biomass models and estimates of mass for live and standing dead trees of U.S. forests. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-298. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station. 57 p.
 

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 Page last modified, September 14, 2009