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6.2 Carbon Sequestration Methodology: Future Predictions

Given the large quantities of SOM lost through erosion and cultivation, it is not known if soil carbon will be able to return to predisturbance levels (Huntington 1995). Indications for the forested Piedmont, including reforested abandoned agricultural lands, are that the rate of sequestration will begin to slow later this century as soil carbon approaches predisturbance levels, thus reducing the potential of these soils to sequester additional carbon (Huntington 1995). Whether forests are managed for maximum sustained yield of biomass or maximum financial return, they will rarely contain more than approximately one-third of the carbon stored in a forest grown to maximum biomass (Cooper 1982).