Using bioeconomic models to assess research priorities: a case study on afforestation as a carbon sequestration tool

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 886-900 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel W McKenney ◽  
Denys Yemshanov ◽  
Glenn Fox ◽  
Elizabeth Ramlal
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Hybrid Poplar ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Forest Products ◽  
Carbon Price ◽  
Decay Rates ◽  
Biological Variables ◽  
Fuel Substitution ◽  
Spatial Estimates

We have developed a spatial cost–benefit afforestation model that includes the tracking of five carbon pools. In this application we represent three possible afforestation strategies that could be implemented in Canada using plantations of hybrid poplar, hardwoods, and softwoods with average expected growth rates of 12–14, 5–7, and 5–7 m3· ha–1·year–1 respectively. The model provides spatially explicit insights into the cost effectiveness of afforestation as a carbon sequestration tool. Here we develop an elasticity metric and experiment to assess model sensitivity and use the results to make recommendations about research priorities. The most important biological variables across all scenarios include site suitability, which is related to refining the spatial estimates of potential yields, biomass to carbon ratios, and wood density. The most important economic variables include refinement and lowering of establishment costs and agricultural opportunity costs. Parameters that have a low impact on the break-even carbon price, suggesting refinements in knowledge in these areas would be relatively less beneficial, include decay rates for forest products, stand senescence age (the age when stand mortality reaches its maximum), bioenergy and pulpwood prices, and mean residual time for leaf litter. Less importance was also placed on the proportions of forest products in the total harvest and refining a fossil fuel substitution coefficient.

The impacts of changes in federal timber harvest on forest carbon sequestration in western Oregon

2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (9) ◽  
pp. 1710-1723 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eun Ho Im ◽  
Darius M. Adams ◽  
Gregory S. Latta
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Carbon Flux ◽  
Carbon Tax ◽  
Forest Products ◽  
Timber Harvest ◽  
Carbon Price ◽  
Forest Carbon ◽  
Market Prices ◽  
Forest Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Regional Forest

This study examines the potential impacts of changes in federal timber harvest, acting through regional log markets, on the sequestration of carbon in forests and forest products in western Oregon. We construct a dynamic model of the region’s log markets in which market prices, log consumption at mills, and timber harvests and timber inventories on private, federal, and state forests are endogenous. Absent any policies regulating forest carbon sequestration, simulations show that regional carbon flux in forests and forest products would gradually decline as federal harvest rises from recent historical levels. If regional forest carbon flux were constrained to meet some minimum target, however, projections indicate that there would be opportunities for substituting carbon sequestration between federal and nonfederal lands through coordination of harvests across ownerships. We find that relatively small reductions in average private harvest could offset substantial losses of carbon flux on federal timberlands caused by increased federal harvest. One mechanism for achieving the changes needed in private harvest to meet a regional carbon flux target would be a carbon tax/subsidy program or a carbon offset market. For example, if federal owners offered timber for sale equal to the maximum sustainable level under the Northwest Forest Plan, our analysis indicates that a carbon price of roughly $US 19 per tonne of carbon would be sufficient to induce private owners to undertake the harvest and management modifications necessary to maintain regional forest carbon flux at its level in the early 2000s.

The Value of a Tree: Comparing Carbon Sequestration to Forest Products

Science Scope ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 037 (07) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Schon ◽  
R. Hougham ◽  
Karla Bradley Eitel ◽  
Steve Hollenhorst
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Forest Products

scholarly journals Estimation of the Value of Ecosystem Carbon Sequestration Services under Different Scenarios in the Central China (the Qinling-Daba Mountain Area)

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuyang Yu ◽  
Jing Li ◽  
Zixiang Zhou ◽  
Li Zeng ◽  
Cheng Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Discount Rate ◽  
Net Present Value ◽  
Carbon Price ◽  
Present Value ◽  
Mountain Area

The Qinling-Daba Mountain area is a transitional zone between north and south China and not much is known about its carbon storage, particularly its pool of soil organic carbon (SOC). Given this shortcoming, more reliable information regarding its SOC is needed. In light of this, we quantified above and below-ground carbon sinks using both the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford approach (CASA) model and an improved carbon cycle process model. We also assessed the net present value (NPV) for carbon budgets under different carbon price and discount rate scenarios using the NPV model. Our results indicated that the net primary productivity (NPP) was lower in places with low density forests that were situated at high elevation. The spatial distribution of carbon storage depended on NPP production and litter decompositon, which reflected specific vegetation as well as temperature and moisture gradients. The lowest amounts of carbon storage were in the center of the Qinling Mountains and also partly in the Daba area, which is a location associated with sparse grassland. Contrastingly, the broad-leaved forested area showed the highest amount of carbon storage. NPV was positively correlated with discount rate and carbon prices, thus resulting in the highest values in the forests and grassland. The net present value of total soil carbon sequestration in the six scenarios in 2015 was 3.555 b yuan, 3.621 b yuan, 5.421 b yuan, 5.579 b yuan, 7.530 b yuan, 7.929 b yuan; The net present value of total soil carbon sequestration in 6 scenarios in 2017 is 2.816 b yuan, 2.845 b yuan, 4.361 b yuan, 4.468 b yuan, 6.144 b yuan, 6.338 b yuan (billion = 109; b; RMB is the legal currency of the China, and its unit is yuan, 1 euro = 7.7949 yuan, and 1 pound = 9.2590 yuan). Levying a carbon tax would be a notable option for decision makers as they develop carbon emission reduction policies. Given this, incorporating discount rates and carbon pricing would allow for more realistic value estimations of soil organic carbon. This approach would also provide a theoretical basis and underscore the practical significance for the government to set a reasonable carbon price.

Valuation of Rainforest Preservation in the Amazon

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Strand
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Stated Preference ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Forest Products ◽  
Carbon Price ◽  
Amazon Rainforest ◽  
Amazon Forest ◽  
Marginal Value ◽  
Regulating Services ◽  
Provisioning Services

Different ecosystem values of the Amazon rainforest are surveyed in economic terms. Spatial rainforest valuation is crucial for good forest management, such as where to put the most effort to stop illegal logging and forest fires, and which areas to designate as new nationally protected areas. Three classes of economic value are identified, according to who does the valuation: values accruing to the local and regional populations (of South America); carbon values (which are global); and other global (noncarbon) values. Only the first two classes are discussed. Three types of value are separated according to ecosystem service delivered from the rainforest: provisioning services; supporting and regulating services; and cultural and other human services. Net values of provisioning services, including reduced impact logging and various non-timber forest products, are well documented for the entire Brazilian Amazon at a spatially detailed scale and amount to at least $20–50/ha/year. Less-detailed information exists about values of fish, game, and bioprospecting from the Amazon, although their total values can be shown to be sizable. Many supporting and regulating services are harder to value economically, in particular climate regulation and watershed and erosion protection. Impacts of changed rainfall when Amazon rainforest is lost have been valued at detailed scale, but with relative model values of $10–20/ha/year. Carbon values are much larger, at a carbon price of $30/ton CO2, around $14,000/ha as capitalized value. The average per-hectare value of tourism and the health benefits from having the Amazon forest are low, and such values cannot easily be pinned down to individual areas of the Amazon. Finally, the biodiversity values of the Amazon, as accruing to the local and regional population, seem to be small based on recent stated-preference work in Brazil. Most of the values related to biodiversity are likely to be global and may. in principle, be very large, but the global components are not valued here. The concept of value is discussed, and a marginal valuation concept (practically useful for policy) is favored as opposed to an average or total valuation. Marginal value can be below average value (as is likely for biodiversity and tourism), but can also in some contexts be higher. This can occur where losing forest at a local scale increases the prevalence of forest fires and where it increases forest dryness, leading to a multiplier process whereby more forest is lost. While strides have recently been made to improve rainforest valuation at both micro- and macroscales, much work still remains.

scholarly journals Sustainable Forest Management for Nontimber Products

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2670 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Chamberlain ◽  
Christine Small ◽  
Michelle Baumflek
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Forest Products ◽  
The United States ◽  
Nontimber Forest Products ◽  
Medicinal Species

Many of the plants and fungi that are harvested for nontimber products (e.g., foods, medicines, crafts) are critical to healthy forest ecosystems. These products also are essential to rural societies, contributing to the material and nonmaterial composition of communities and cultures. Product sales make important contributions at all economic scales, from household to national economies. Nontimber forest products (NTFPs) have been harvested for generations, sometimes centuries, yet they are seldom integrated into forest management. Few methods exist for inventory and assessment, and there is little evidence that harvests are sustainable. This article examines three elements of sustainable forest management for nontimber products: sociocultural, economic, and ecological, and elaborates with detailed examples of edible and medicinal species from United States (U.S.) forests. We synthesize the state of knowledge and emerging issues, and identify research priorities that are needed to advance sustainable management of NTFPs in the United States. Despite their social, economic, and ecological values, many of these species and resources are threatened by the overuse and lack of management and market integration. Sustainable management for nontimber products is attainable, but much research and development is needed to ensure the long-term sustainability of these resources and their cultural values, and to realize their economic potentials.

scholarly journals Greenhouse gas balance of cropland conversion to bioenergy poplar short rotation coppice

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 8035-8084 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Sabbatini ◽  
N. Arriga ◽  
T. Bertolini ◽  
S. Castaldi ◽  
T. Chiti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Hybrid Poplar ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Net Ecosystem Exchange ◽  
Short Rotation Coppice ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Balance ◽  
Short Rotation ◽  
Fuel Substitution ◽  
Natural Gas Emissions

Abstract. The production of bioenergy in Europe is one of the strategies conceived to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The suitability of the land use change from a cropland (REF site) to a short rotation coppice plantation of hybrid poplar (SRC site) was investigated by comparing the GHG budgets of these two systems over 24 months in Viterbo, Italy. Eddy covariance measurements were carried out to quantify the net ecosystem exchange of CO2 (FCO2), whereas chambers were used to measure N2O and CH4 emissions from soil. Soil organic carbon (SOC) of an older poplar plantation was used to estimate via a regression the SOC loss due to SRC establishment. Emissions from tractors and from production and transport of agricultural inputs (FMAN) were modelled and GHG emission offset due to fossil fuel substitution was credited to the SRC site considering the C intensity of natural gas. Emissions due to the use of the biomass (FEXP) were also considered. The suitability was finally assessed comparing the GHG budgets of the two sites. FCO2 was the higher flux in the SRC site (−3512 ± 224 g CO2 eq m−2 in two years), while in the REF site it was −1838 ± 107 g CO2 m−2 in two years. FEXP was equal to 1858 ± 240 g CO2 m−2 in 24 months in the REF site, thus basically compensating FCO2, while it was 1118 ± 521 g CO2 eq m−2 in 24 months in the SRC site. This latter could offset −379.7 ± 175.1 g CO2 eq m−2 from fossil fuel displacement. Soil CH4 and N2O fluxes were negligible. FMAN weighed 2 and 4% in the GHG budgets of SRC and REF sites respectively, while the SOC loss weighed 455 ± 524 g CO2 m−2 in two years. Overall, the REF site was close to neutrality in a GHG perspective (156 ± 264 g CO2 eq m−2), while the SRC site was a net sink of −2202 ± 792 g CO2 eq m−2. In conclusion the experiment led to a positive evaluation of the conversion of cropland to bioenergy SRC from a GHG viewpoint.

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