Pine Plantations May Be Major Source Of Anthropogenic CO2 - AFP

[hatrack]

The increasing number of pine plantations in the southern United States could contribute to a rise in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, a new study reports. This is important because carbon dioxide is a key greenhouse gas, one that is linked to global warming.

Landowners in the South are turning stands of hardwood and natural pine trees into pine plantations because pine is a more lucrative source of lumber. But pine plantations don't retain carbon as well as hardwood or natural pine forests, said Brent Sohngen, a study co-author and an associate professor of agricultural, environmental and development economics at Ohio State University. "For environmental reasons, policy makers may want to develop policies that encourage the establishment or maintenance of hardwood forests to ensure diversity across the landscape," Sohngen said.

Sohngen examined the issues with Sandra Brown, an ecologist with Winrock International, a non-profit organization based in Arlington , Va. Together, the two developed a statistical model, based on the economic value of the land, to predict how many acres of hardwood and natural pine forests would be converted to pine plantations over the next 30 years. They also calculated what this potential conversion would mean in terms of carbon dioxide emissions. The results appear in a recent issue of the journal Ecological Economics.

The researchers estimate that some 10 million acres - roughly the size of New Hampshire and Vermont - of mainly hardwood and natural pine forests will be chopped down to make way for pine plantations by 2030 in just three Southern states. That translates into roughly 700,000 tons more carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere annually, or 21 million tons over the 30-year period.

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Pine_Plantations_May_Be_One_Culprit_In_Increasing_Carbon_Dioxide_Levels_999.html

[bananas]

1. Is this part of the war on Christmas?

Liberals want to take away our Christmas trees!

[NNadir]

2. I'm not sure that I totally buy this.

I suppose it makes a difference what one does with the wood.

If one is burning the hardwood, that is one thing, but if one is making lumber products that may last centuries that is another.

Without advocating the destruction of any forest, I see it as being possible that this industry could be an avenue for some carbon sequestration.

Recently I read (and referenced here) a report suggesting that cropland might be a net greenhouse gas loser because of fertilization: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x59784#59789

I would therefore be surprised - believing perhaps naively that these pine plantations are not fertilized with fixed nitrogen - that the case where the pine plantation displaces unused crop land is a net loser on carbon. Similarly - to the extent that the carbon is not returned to the atmosphere - those of us who lots of books know they do not rot rapidly - I would also be compelled to think that the pine plantations are removing some additional carbon. A pine plantation that produces several "crops" may not be all that bad.

I think one needs to look at this question carefully and without blinders. I'm quite sure that not one size fits all. We know that ancient forests do a good job holding carbon, but we should also note that the most successful instrument for removing carbon dioxide on this planet right now is, in fact, the chloroplast.

With all this said, I will express again my opinion that virgin wild untrammeled forest is an important cog in our planetary system that needs protection.

[pitohui]

4. pine tree desert does not sustain life

it has v. little diversity of species, it may look like a forest to the naive eye, but based on diversity of species it's dead, jim, it's desert

it is one of the great tragedies of the southeast which is not w.out its tragedies that its natural wonders like the old hardwood forests have pretty much been systematically removed and destroyed

[pitohui]

3. can i say i told you so yet?

it is most discouraging to see huge parts of entire states like mississippi converted to pine tree desert dead zones :-(

and the rest converted to soy agricultural desert dead zones