ABSTRACT
Forests play an important role in the global carbon (C) cycle, as they occupy about 30% of the continental areas of the earth and contain from 80% to 90% of terrestrial C (Thornton et al. 2002). The forest C budget varies among forest types and is affected by development stages, disturbance history (e.g., fires, insects, and harvests), management practices (e.g., precommercial thinning), climate variability, and nutritional availability (e.g., nitrogen). The scientific community, forest managers, and policy makers require information on the amount of C stored in forest ecosystems (Kurz et al. 2009). In particular, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change requires countries to provide integrated assessments of the impact of forests and forestry activities on the mitigation of climate change (Karjalainen et al. 2002). In order to fulfill this requirement, it is essential to quantify forest C stocks and their rate of change and evaluate the effects of different scenarios of forest management practices and land use policy options (Kurz et al. 2009). This information is essential to determine if forests are acting as C sources or sinks over long time periods.
