The Carbon Dioxide Dilemma Promising Technologies and Policies (2003) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Sequestration in Terrestrial Ecosystems
Sequestration in Terrestrial Ecosystems
Pages 59-70
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Sequestration in Terrestrial Ecosystems
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From page 61... ...
We are trying to solve a global problem, but some of our options will involve manipulations or interventions that actually make changes at the molecular level for instance, to protect soil organic carbon. There are three basic intervention strategies: (1)
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The potential contribution from terrestrial ecosystems is not as minuscule as some have implied, but neither is it the answer. Terrestrial ecosystems can buy some time for our global community, and using ecosystems to sequester carbon would have some other benefits (e.g., erosion protection, improved soil productivity, increased biodiversity, and retention of soil moisture)
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Sampling of the soil indicates a pretty substantial increase in soil carbon, and preliminary evidence suggests that its mean residence time could be 127 years. Changes in land-management practices also offer opportunities for substantial accrual of organic carbon.
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Earlier, I said that future carbon sequestration rates could be, say, 2 to 5 GtC/y for several decades. Roger Dahlman of the DOE Office of Science has estimates (based on results of the Ameriflux Program)
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Today I want to talk about monitoring systems and the practical field testing and application of monitoring systems, discuss some examples of large-scale measurements, and put forth future monitoring options we think may change the way business is done. On a global basis, there is a net emission of carbon from terrestrial ecosystems.
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From page 66... ...
In the United States, it is easy to find digital elevation models and topographic maps, aerial photography, and satellite imagery. When we put in preliminary plots, we can determine the variability within those strata and estimate the number of plots.
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Regression errors, surprisingly, do not seem to make much difference in measuring carbon in classes of trees. Standard regression equations from 34 different species of eastern hardwoods east of the Mississippi in the United States reveals a 0.99 curve fit.
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For example, the Noel Kempf project, designed by the Nature Conservancy, is probably the largest carbon project implemented to date. It is a $10-million program that covers about 1.5 million acres (640,000 hectares)
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In one example, the ground plots gave us 89 tons of carbon per hectare with a 95-percent competence interval, whereas our aerial measurements gave us 87.7 tons of carbon per hectare with a 95-percent competence interval. We think we will be able to reduce error with new regression equations that go directly from crown diameters to biomass instead of going through existing algorithms.
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From page 70... ...
We believe new imaging tools will reduce overall monitoring costs and enable us to measure a broader range of environmental attributes for projects and, at the same time, make the projects more credible. All in all, we think that it will be possible to make accurate measurements for forestry projects anywhere in the world at low cost.
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