Schlagwort: afforestation

Weber et al. (2024): Chemistry-albedo feedbacks offset up to a third of forestation’s CO2 removal benefits

James Weber, James A. King, Nathan Luke Abraham, Daniel P. Grosvenor, Christopher J. Smith, Youngsub Matthew Shin, Peter Lawrence, Stephanie Roe, David J. Beerling, Maria Val Martin IN: Science 383, 860-864, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adg6196

Forestation is widely proposed for CDR, but its impact on climate through changes to atmospheric composition and surface albedo remains relatively unexplored. The authors assessed these responses using two Earth system models by comparing a scenario with extensive global forest expansion in suitable regions to other plausible futures.

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Nature – Zhang et al. (2024): Forest carbon removal potential and sustainable development in Japan

Bingqi Zhang, Janaki Imbulana Arachchi, Shunsuke Managi IN: Scientific Reports 14, 647, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-51308-z

This study predicted Japan’s forest CO2 removal by afforestation and forest management and its monetary value until 2042 from national to gridded level, with statistical data and complementary satellite data products, and explored how that CO2 removal will contribute to sustainable development under the inclusive wealth (IW) framework. 

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Warner et al. (2023): Young mixed planted forests store more carbon than monocultures—a meta-analysis

Emily Warner, Susan C. Cook-Patton, Owen T. Lewis, Nick Brown, Julia Koricheva, Nico Eisenhauer, Olga Ferlian, Dominique Gravel, Jefferson S. Hall, Hervé Jactel, Carolina Mayoral, Céline Meredieu, Christian Messier, Alain Paquette, William C. Parker, Catherine Potvin, Peter B. Reich, Andy Hector IN: Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 6, https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2023.1226514

To determine whether diversification of plantations would enhance aboveground carbon storage, the authors systematically reviewed over 11,360 publications, and acquired data from a global network of tree diversity experiments. They compiled a maximum dataset of 79 monoculture to mixed comparisons from 21 sites with all variables needed for a meta-analysis. The authors assessed aboveground carbon stocks in mixed-species planted forests vs. (a) the average of monocultures, (b) the best monoculture, and (c) commercial species monocultures, and examined potential mechanisms driving differences in carbon stocks between mixtures and monocultures.

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Kirschbaum et al. (2024): Is tree planting an effective strategy for climate change mitigation?

Miko U.F. Kirschbaum, Annette L. Cowie, Josep Peñuelas, Pete Smith, Richard T. Conant, Rowan F. Sage, Miguel Brandão, M. Francesca Cotrufo, Yiqi Luo, Danielle A. Way, Sharon A. Robinson IN: Science of The Total Environment 909, 168479, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168479

Tree plantings may be beneficial or detrimental for mitigating climate-change impacts, but the range of possibilities makes generalisations difficult. Their net benefit depends on many factors that differ between specific circumstances. One can, therefore, neither uncritically endorse tree planting everywhere, nor condemn it as counter-productive. The author´s aim is to provide key information to enable appropriate assessments to be made under specific circumstances. They conclude their discussion by providing a step-by-step guide for assessing the merit of tree plantings under specific circumstances.

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Nature – Mo et al. (2023): Integrated global assessment of the natural forest carbon potential

Lidong Mo, Constantin M. Zohner, Peter B. Reich et al. IN: Nature (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06723-z

Forests are a substantial terrestrial carbon sink, but anthropogenic changes in land use and climate have considerably reduced the scale of this system. Remote-sensing estimates to quantify carbon losses from global forests are characterized by considerable uncertainty and the authors lack a comprehensive ground-sourced evaluation to benchmark these estimates. Here the authors combine several ground-sourced and satellite-derived approaches to evaluate the scale of the global forest carbon potential outside agricultural and urban lands.

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Aleissa & Bakshi (2023): Simulation tools for net-positive process design – Trees as unit operations for carbon sequestration and air quality regulation

Yazeed M. Aleissa, Bhavik R. Bakshi IN: Computers & Chemical Engineering 179, 108455, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compchemeng.2023.108455

This work focuses on integrating vegetation as unit operations in process design to remove air pollutants and sequester carbon. The authors developed a practitioner-friendly simulation module in CHEMCAD that utilizes sophisticated rural and urban forestry models developed by the online i-Tree assessment tool. The authors demonstrate the module through a power plant case study and highlight some alternative spatially explicit integrated designs that are environmentally and economically superior.

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Cox et al. (2023): Carbon sequestration and storage implications of three forest management regimes in the Wabanaki-Acadian Forest: A review of the evidence

Emma Cox, Thomas M. Beckley, Megan de Graaf IN: Environmental Reviews, https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2022-0097

Forests contain substantial carbon stores, including above and below ground, living and non-living biomass. Different management regimes produce different outcomes related to stored and sequestered carbon in forests. The geographic focus of this paper is the Wabanaki-Acadian Forest of the Maritime Provinces of Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island). This manuscript reviews literature to evaluate the carbon impacts of (1) intensive forest management for fiber products, (2) unharvested (or conservation) forest, and (3) climate-focused, ecological forestry.

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Stevens & Bond (2023): A trillion trees: carbon capture or fuelling fires?

Nicola Stevens, William J. Bond IN: Trends in Ecology & Evolution, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2023.09.015

Afforesting grassy systems for carbon gain using flammable plantation trees could shift the fire regime from lower intensity grass-fuelled fires to high-intensity crown fires. Future changes in climate will worsen this. The authors highlight the fire risk of trees planted for carbon and costs of fire protection using African examples.

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