Redwood Reader

77. Beyond Timber and Recreation: The Value of Forestland
Two good articles this week dealing with our premise that land in its natural state can reduce carbon dioxide as well as have ecosystem economic value. This is by far the most practical way to maximize restoration effectiveness, especially if the payoff actually pays off for the landowners. The links to the Gund Institute in the first article show some real good reading for those valuing ecosystems as sustainable economic systems. The second article shows forests as undervalued for carbon sequestration, even without glomalin. Note again the positive values for storing carbon without even allowing for glomalin storage in the soil, and that root growth was expanded, allowing more opportunity for colonization by glomalin-producing mycorhizzia, and thus more water holding aggregate soil. We hope glomalin studies in ancient forest are coming soon.
Waterforum www.waterforum@yahoogroups.com

Message: 4
Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2004 11:29:53 -0400
From: "March, Richard"
Subject: RE: Digest Number 1010-economic value of water purification
services provided by forests
Daniel, A recent study by the Massachusetts Audubon Society found that:
"Permanent protection of undeveloped land makes economic, as well as
ecological sense. In collaboration with the Gund Institute of the
University of Vermont, the report finds that undeveloped land in
Massachusetts provides over $6 billion in nonmarket ecosystem services
annually, with 85 percent of this value provided by land left largely
in
its natural state. Conversely, the loss of forest and agricultural land
in the 1985 to 1999 period resulted in a $200 million annual loss in
ecosystem value."
http://www.massaudubon.org/advocacy/news.php?id=19&type=news
A study by economists at Colorado State University estimated the
benefits of wilderness protection at $3 billion to $4 billion annually.
http://www.wilderness.net/library/documents/loomis1.pdf

More important than the precise dollar values estimated are the
approaches used by economists to value forest ecological services.
Loomis and Richardson identify eight classes of benefits provided by
wilderness area. Ecological services, of which water quality benefits
are a subset, are estimated at $2 billion to $3.4 billion dollars per
year.
See the link below to a list of active projects at the Gund Institute of
the University, many of which deals with forest (and other types of)
ecosystem valuation.
http://www.uvm.edu/giee/activeprojects.htm

Bob Costanza, director of the Gund Institute, is one of the foremost
experts on ecosystem valuation. See Bob Costanza's resume and vita at
the link below.
http://www.uvm.edu/giee/cvs/Bobvita.htm
Dick March, South Florida Water Management District

www.co2science.org

How Long Can Carbon Continue to Accumulate in the Soils of Boreal Forests? Reference
Berg, B. and Dise, N. 2004. Calculating the long-term stable nitrogen sink in northern European forests. Acta Oecologica 26: 15-21.
What was done
In a study of four Swedish forests where humus has been accumulating in the soil for up to 3000 years, the authors note that since nitrogen is nearly always the limiting nutrient for vegetation growth in these ecosystems, and if their rates of denitrification are low, as they typically are, "then very little nitrogen should be removed from these forests through leaching or runoff, and we should be able to 'find' in a careful inventory nearly all of the nitrogen that the forests had accumulated since the last major fire." Consequently, they describe how they "used measured and calculated litter fall data, calculated limit values for litter decomposition, and the nitrogen concentration at the limit value" to attempt such a feat, which attempt, if successful, would allow them to "say with some confidence that nitrogen accumulation drives carbon accumulation in these boreal forests, and that both N and C may be retained within the system over a long time period."
What was learned
Comparing the nitrogen accumulated in the forests at maturity to that calculated from a nitrogen budget based on estimated rates of nitrogen input, N2 fixation, denitrification and leaching to the mineral soil, Berg and Dise obtained "a good agreement of about 0.30-0.35 g N m-2 year-1 stored in humus and vegetation at forest maturity." Hence, they were able to conclude that these forests are indeed "highly efficient at accumulating and storing nitrogen for thousands of years," which finding likewise suggests they are equally highly efficient at accumulating and storing carbon for thousands of years.
What it means
The results of Berg and Dise's analysis strongly suggest that earth's boreal forests can continue to accumulate carbon in their soils for literally thousands of years, well beyond the anticipated end of what we could call the Age of Fossil Fuels. Furthermore, and in light of what we know about the ability of atmospheric CO2 enrichment to enhance the productivity of trees indefinitely (see our Editorials of 5 Mar 2003 and 9 Jun 2004), there is reason to believe that earth's boreal forests, as well as its other forests, will serve as enhanced carbon sinks well beyond the time at which we cease to emit the copious quantities of CO2 that we do currently and that we will continue to do for some time to come. Hence, we are fortunate to have a very tenacious natural partner (earth's forests, both new and old) with a long-term commitment to helping us maintain the air's CO2 content within bounds that are not injurious to life.


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