Biomass carbon storages and carbon sequestration potentials of the Grain for Green Program‐Covered Forests in China

Abstract

The Grain for Green Program (GGP) was the most all‐embracing program of ecological reconstruction implemented in China. To estimate carbon storages and carbon sequestration potentials of the GGP forests, the study presented in the paper collected data spanning from 1999 to 2010, such as tree species, tree planting area relevant to the GGP, empirical growth curves suitable for different planted tree species in China, as well as wood density (WD), biomass expansion factor (BEF), carbon fraction (CF) of different trees species, and estimated the carbon storages of the biomasses of GGP forests from 1999 to 2050. It showed that the total carbon storage of the biomass of GGP forests was 320.29 Tg upon the GGP completion in 2010; the total carbon sequestration is higher during the early GGP‐implementation stage than at the late GGP‐implementation stage, and the annual mean carbon sequestration of GGP forests was 26.69 Tg/year. The potential of GGP forests as carbon sink presented an increasing increment. In China, the potential increments of GGP forests as carbon sinks were estimated to be 397.34, 604.00, 725.53, and 808.90 Tg in 2020, 2030, 2040, and 2050, respectively, and the carbon sequestration rates were 1.72, 0.89, 0.52, and 0.36 Mg ha−1 year−1, respectively, corresponding to 2010s, 2020s, 2030s, and 2040s. Therefore, the GGP forests had bigger carbon sequestration capacities and potentials in China.

The Effect of the Grain for Green Program on Ecosystem Health in the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River Basin: A Case Study of Eastern Sichuan, China

“…Second, the GGP has been actively implemented in the study area since 1999. The major impact of the GGP has been an increase in vegetation coverage, which is supported by previous results [17,38,39]. This is constant with the results of Mann–Kendall Trend Test Model, which showed that the vegetation coverage rate rose significantly (Figure 5b).…”

“…In previous research, the effects of the GGP on its areas of implementation have been assessed with a main focus on the fundamental ecosystem structure, such as the change in vegetation coverage [12,13] and the landscape pattern [14]. Some studies also assessed the effect of ecological restoration on ecological service, but limited to the ecological services, such as water and soil conservation [15], enhancement of soil fertility and carbon sequestration [16], and climate regulation [17]. The challenge of assessing the effect of the GGP is quantitatively assessing ecosystem health under the background of government programs against human pressure and ecosystem state factors.…”

Assessing the Effects of Desertification Control Projects from the Farmers’ Perspective: A Case Study of Yanchi County, Northern China

“…All the DCPs have achieved desertification control, especially in terms of the increase of vegetation coverage [15]. Scientists have also carried out research assessing the effects of these DCPs [16,17].…”

Application of Models to Predict Stand Volume, Aboveground Biomass Accumulation, and Carbon Storage Capacity for a Konishii Fir (Cunninghamia konishii Hayata) Plantation in Central Taiwan

“…The mean AGCST (1.90 Mg ha −1 year −1 ) of this study was close to that of China fir in the whole of Taiwan; however, it was lower than that of China fir in various regions of China (Table 8). Usually, the rotation age of Konishii fir or China fir is approximately 30 years [10,43,[49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63], but the stand age of Konishii fir in the present stand is more than 50 years. Therefore, higher AGCST was expected.…”