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Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest
Sector
Canadian Forest Service
ESSA developed a simulation model of the Canadian
forest sector carbon budget to analyze the quantitative effects
of forest management and forest sector policy decisions on carbon
exchange between the forest sector and the atmosphere. Initial work
consisted of calculating the net balance of the national forest
carbon budget using the best available data from existing provincial
and national databases. This work laid the foundation for subsequent
expansion of the analytical framework and analysis of the effects
of changing climatic conditions and different policy options on
the net carbon balance. As work progressed, emphasis was placed
on the role of policy decisions (e.g., tree planting, large scale
fertilization, bioenergy use, forest product recycling) on the carbon
budget. The model simulates stand-level carbon dynamics in above-
and below-ground biomass and in four dead organic matter pools that
represent all organic matter including litter, coarse woody debris
and humified soil organic carbon. The model accounts for the impacts
of forest management, natural disturbances and deforestation. At
the landscape-level, the model summarizes the carbon stock changes
and generates information in compliance with the accounting rules
of the Kyoto Protocol (to the extent that these were finalized at
the time of project implementation).
Using the model, ESSA conducted an analysis of
the interactions between climate change and policy decisions to
identify: 1) the potential feedback mechanisms between increasing
carbon in the global atmosphere and vegetation responses; and 2)
the options for mitigative and adaptive strategies. A retrospective
analysis was also conducted with the model for the period 1920-1989,
integrating data on forest inventory and climatic conditions for
all of Canada into the analysis.
CBM Reports and Publications:
 Apps,
M.J., W.A. Kurz, S.J. Beukema and J.S. Bhatti. 1999. Carbon
budget of the Canadian forest product sector. In: Environmental
Science & Policy 2 (1999) pp. 25-41.
Kurz, W.A.
and M.J. Apps. 1999. A 70-year retrospective analysis of carbon
fluxes in the Canadian Forest Sector. In: Ecological Applications
9(2) (1999). pp. 526-547.
Kurz, W.A.,
S.J. Beukema, and M.J. Apps. 1998. Carbon budget implications
of the transition from natural to managed disturbance regimes in
forest ecosystems. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global
Change 2: 405-421.
Price, D.T.,
M.J Apps, and W.A. Kurz. 1998. Past and future carbon dynamics
of Canada's forestry sector. In: G.H. Kohlmaier, M. Weber and R.A.
Houghton (eds.) Carbon Dioxide Mitigation in Forestry and Wood Industry.
Springer-Verlag. pp. 63-88.
Greenough,
J.A., M.J. Apps, and W.A. Kurz. 1997. Influence of methodology
and assumptions on reported national carbon flux inventories: An
Illustration from the Canadian Forest Sector. Mitigation and Adaptation
Strategies for Global Change. 2: 267-283.
Price, D.T.,
D.H. Halliwell, M.J. Apps, W.A. Kurz, and S.R. Curry. 1997.
Comprehensive assessment of
carbon stocks and fluxes in a Boreal-Cordilleran forest management
unit. Can. J. For. Res. 27: 2005-2016
[PDF - 150 kb]
Kurz, W.A.
and M.J. Apps. 1996. Retrospective assessment of carbon flows
in Canadian boreal forests. In: M.J. Apps and D.T. Price (eds).
Forest Ecosystems, Forest Management and the Global Carbon Cycle,
NATO ASI Series 1: Global Environmental Change. Springer-Verlag,
Heidelberg, Vol. 40, pp. 173-182.
Kurz, W.A.,
M.J. Apps, P.G. Comeau, and J.A. Trofymow. 1996. The Carbon
Budget of British Columbia's Forests, 1920-1989: Preliminary Analysis
and Recommendations for Refinements. Canada-British Columbia Partnership
Agreement on Forest Resource Development: FRDA II. Joint publication
of Canadian Forest Service, Pacific Forestry Centre and B.C. Ministry
of Forests, Research Branch, Victoria, BC. FRDA Rept. 261. 62 pp.
Kurz, W.A.,
S.J. Beukema, and M.J. Apps. 1996. Estimation of Root Biomass
and Dynamics for the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest
Sector. Can. J. For. Res. 26: 1973-1979.
Price, D.T.,
R.M. Mair, W.A. Kurz and M.J. Apps. 1996. Effects of forest
management, harvesting and wood processing on ecosystem carbon dynamics:
a boreal case study. In: M.J. Apps and D.T. Price (eds). "Forest
Ecosystems, Forest Management and the Global Carbon Cycle",
NATO ASI Series 1: Global Environmental Change, Springer-Verlag,
Heidelberg, Vol. 40, pp. 279-292.
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