Tag: Carbon accounting

Data transparency for forests in Latin America and the Caribbean

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
In addition to providing food, medicine, timber, and many other things people need, forests store huge amounts of carbon. Forests also have the potential to release that carbon. Carbon accounting across entire regions is an increasingly important part of climate action, particularly international agreements. A new book, now available in English as well as Spanish,…  More 

Your home stores carbon for decades

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
Wood is infinitely useful. Look around, and you’ll find it in all sorts of places, from cardboard boxes to pianos. It is even used in some frames for bikes and cars. If you live in the U.S., wood was also likely used to build your home. All these wood-based items are valuable to people in…  More 

Selecting Trees to Grow in Cities

by Paul Meznarich, Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station  • 
Sometimes in the cramped environs of U.S. cities every inch counts, especially if attempting to make space for nature. City planners and urban foresters now have a resource to more precisely select tree species whose growth will be a landscaping dream instead of a maintenance nightmare. The U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Research Station recently…  More 

How does intensive forest management affect global carbon storage?

by Stephanie Worley Firley, EFETAC  • 
A growing world population demands more wood and fiber, much of which is harvested from intensively managed forests. In these forests, tree growth as well as post-harvest land cover changes can be easy to see, but an invisible part of the management process has captured the attention of scientists and university collaborators with the U.S.…  More 

How Much Carbon is Stored in Mozambique Mangroves?

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Delivery  • 
In an article published online in the journal Forest Ecology and Management, U.S. Forest Service researcher Christina Stringer and collaborators provide the first comprehensive estimate — 14 million megagrams (Mg) or almost 31 trillion pounds — of the carbon sequestered in the mangrove forests of the Zambezi River Delta in Mozambique. More important than the…  More 

Carbon Accumulation by Southeastern Forests May Slow

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Delivery Group  • 
Carbon accumulation levels in the southeastern U.S. may be slowing due to forest dynamics and land use changes, according to findings of U.S. Forest Service researchers published in the journal Scientific Reports on Friday, January 23. The study authored by Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) scientists John Coulston, David Wear, and Jim Vose, is the…  More 

Taking Termites into Account

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Delivery Group  • 
  Every homeowner in the Southeast knows about termites and the damage they can do to a house, but most people don’t think about them as forest insects. Termites are saproxylic, meaning they depend on dead or dying wood for at least part of their life cycle, and they play a major role in recycling…  More 

Carbon In, Carbon Out

by Stephanie Worley Firley, Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center  • 
Look around at all the wood and paper products we consider essential for daily life. Now, consider the carbon stored in those products—carbon that was removed from a forest ecosystem when trees were harvested. This type of carbon storage is quite important: while it’s locked into these products throughout their useful life, this carbon is…  More