AUTHOR=Cheng Fushan , Tian Jiaxin , He Jingyuan , He Huaijiang , Liu Guoliang , Zhang Zhonghui , Zhou Liping 

TITLE=The spatial and temporal distribution of China’s forest carbon

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2023.1110594

DOI=10.3389/fevo.2023.1110594

ISSN=2296-701X

ABSTRACT=Abstract
China's forests have sequestrated a significant amount of carbon over the past two decades. However, it is not clear whether China's forests will be able to continue to have as much carbon sequestration potential capacity in the future. In order to research China’s forest carbon storage and carbon sequestration potential capacities at spatial and temporal scales, we built a digital forest model for each province of China using the data from The China Forest Resources Report (2014-2018) and calculated the carbon storage capacity and sequestration potential capacity of each province with the current management practices without considering natural successions. The results showed that the current forest carbon storage is 10.0 Pg C, and the carbon sequestration potential in the next 40 years (from year 2019 to 2058) will be 5.04 Pg C. Since immature forests account for the majority of current forests, the carbon sequestration capacity of the forest was also high (0.202Pg C yr-1). However, the forest carbon storage reached the maximum with the increase of stand maturity, and, at this time, the forest carbon sequestration capacity leans towards zero. After 90 years, all stands developed into mature and over-mature forests, and the forest carbon sequestration capacity was 0.008 Pg yr-1; and the carbon sequestration rate was approximately 4% of what it is nowadays. The change trend of forest carbon in each province was consistent with that of the country. In addition, considering the large forest coverage area in China, the differences in tree species and growing conditions, the forest carbon storage and carbon sequestration capacities among provinces were different. The growth rate of carbon density in high-latitude provinces (such as Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Inner Mongolia) was lower than that in the south (Guangdong, Guangxi, or Hunan), but the forest carbon potential was higher. Planning and implementing targeted forest management strategies is the key to increasing forest carbon storage and extending the service time of forest carbon sinks in provinces. In order to reach the national carbon neutrality goals, we recommend that each province have an informative strategic forest management plan.