Carbon Husbandry

In the Carbon husbandry with trees, and forests in general, it is logical to add the treetop, the branches (including the foliage) and the roots into the stock of the solid stems. The total biomass is most logical to estimate in dry tons. The basic measurement also for Sink Forests is in the stems, as solid cubic meters in one stem, or solid cubic meters per one hectare.   Picture 1. Cubic meters easily measurerable in Scots pine forest in South Finland (Kiikala) In the Finnish forest inventory series between 1921 - 2019 the total  biomass stock (in dry tons)  has been measured three times for the periods NFI 11 (2009-2013), NFI 12 (2014-2018) and NFI 12/13 (2015-2019). With normal statistical sampling plots this was done together with the normal solid cubic meters inventory. Picture 2. Shares of solid cubic meters in tree classes in the  three last Forest inventories (NFI 11 - NFI 13). The Finnish forests are typically coniferous forests. They cover 80 pe...

At national level the most remarkable above ground Carbon stock in Finland is in the forests. The most common basic measurement for the forests, is the amount of above ground solid cubic meters in the trees. It is normally measured for the stems only. The data correlates strongly with the total dry biomass in the trees (stems, branches, foliage, stumps and roots). Further, the solid cubic meters data correlates strongly with the amount of elementary Carbon in the trees (stems, branches, foliage, stumps and roots). Photo 1. Boreal forests are a remarkable Carbon stock in Finland. The changes in the amount of solid cubic meters in the trees indicate the changes in the Carbon stock. Positive change tells about the Carbon sink flux into the forests. Negative change tells about the Carbon source flux (or Carbon emissions flux) from the forests.  The regular inventory of forest trees, for their solid cubic meters, has been done in Finland since 1921 (Figure 1). The latest National Fore...