Carbon dynamics on agricultural land reverting to woody land in Ontario, Canada

Voicu, Mihai; Shaw, Cindy; Kurz, Werner A.; Huffman, Ted; Liu, Jiangui; Fellows, Max

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.02.019

Cited by 22 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…In the pilot study area in the OSR of Alberta, we integrated spatially-explicit annual time series of LandSat disturbance data with forest inventory and ecosystem C dynamics modelling by applying the GCBM to approximately 1.3 million ha of upland forest on a 30 m × 30 m (approximate) grid. However, the GCBM can be applied to smaller areas of interest to project proponents, or larger areas for regional analyses that would be of interest to managers or policy makers, using a grid appropriate to the goals of the user [34,35,36]. Using a spatially-explicit model allows us to generate maps of results that can be veri ed by independent third parties, using eld visits or other remote sensing data.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The spatially-explicit framework of the GCBM allows for grid-based modelling at a scale determined by the user. A spatially-explicit modelling prototype leading to the development of the GCBM has been applied at the scale of photo plots to assess C dynamics on agricultural lands reverting to woody land in Ontario [34], the scale of a watershed to assess the effect of reservoir expansion in British Columbia [35] and the scale of a region to test the integration of spatially-explicit Landsat derived data layers into C accounting with the CBM-CFS3 [36]. The GCBM is suitable for modelling ne-scale oil and gas disturbances in conjunction with coarse-scale disturbance effects from forest harvesting and wild re over a large landscape area.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cumulative effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbances on the forest carbon balance in the Oil Sands Region of Alberta, Canada; a pilot study (1984–2012)

Shaw

Rodrigue

Voicu

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background Assessing cumulative effects of anthropogenic and natural disturbances on forest carbon (C) stocks and fluxes, because of their relevance to climate change, is a requirement of environmental impact assessments (EIAs) in Canada. However, tools have not been developed specifically for these purposes, and in particular for the boreal forest of Canada, so current forest C assessments in EIAs take relatively simple approaches. Here, we demonstrate how an existing tool, the Generic Carbon Budget Model (GCBM), developed for national and international forest C reporting, was used for a relatively rigorous assessment of the cumulative effects of anthropogenic and natural disturbances to support EIA requirements. We applied the GCBM to approximately 1.3 million ha of upland forest in a pilot study area of the oil sands region of Alberta that has experienced a large number of anthropogenic (forestry, energy sector) and natural (wildfire, insect) disturbances.Results 24% of the pilot study area was disturbed. Increasing disturbance emissions combined with declining net primary productivity over the 29 years of the pilot study changed the area from a net C sink to a net C source. Forest C stocks changed from 332 Mt to 327.5 Mt, declining at an average rate of 0.155 tC ha− 1 yr− 1. The largest cumulative areas of disturbance were caused by wildfire (139,000 ha), followed by the energy sector (110,000 ha), insects (33,000 ha) and harvesting (31,000 ha) but the largest cumulative disturbance emissions were caused by the energy sector (9.5 Mt C), followed by wildfire (5.5 Mt C), and then harvesting (1.3 Mt C).Conclusion An existing forest C model was used successfully to provide a rigorous regional cumulative assessment of anthropogenic and natural disturbances on forest C, which meets requirements of EIAs in Canada. The assessment showed the relative importance of disturbances on C emissions in the pilot study area but their relative importance is expected to change in other parts of the oil sands region because of its diversity in disturbance, types, patterns and intensity. Future assessments should include peatland C stocks and fluxes, which could be addressed by using the Canadian Model for Peatlands.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cumulative effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbances on the forest carbon balance in the Oil Sands Region of Alberta, Canada; a pilot study (1984–2012)

Shaw

Rodrigue

Voicu

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Parameters used in this study are those speci c to the Boreal Plains ecozone [51] and are speci ed in Kull et al [29]. In this study we assume that all C transferred to the forest product sector is instantly oxidized and released to the atmosphere, and thus overestimate the direct emissions from harvest by not estimating C retention in harvested wood products and land lls [30,31,34].…”

Section: Model Inputsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cumulative effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbances on the forest carbon balance in the Oil Sands Region of Alberta, Canada; a pilot study (1985–2012)

Shaw

Rodrigue

Voicu

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

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Background: Assessing cumulative effects of anthropogenic and natural disturbances on forest carbon (C) stocks and fluxes, because of their relevance to climate change, is a requirement of environmental impact assessments (EIAs) in Canada. However, tools have not been developed specifically for these purposes, and in particular for the boreal forest of Canada, so current forest C assessments in EIAs take relatively simple approaches. Here, we demonstrate how an existing tool, the Generic Carbon Budget Model (GCBM), developed for national and international forest C reporting, was used for an assessment of the cumulative effects of anthropogenic and natural disturbances to support EIA requirements. We applied the GCBM to approximately 1.3 million ha of upland forest in a pilot study area of the oil sands region (OSR) of Alberta that has experienced a large number of anthropogenic (forestry, energy sector) and natural (wildfire, insect) disturbances. Results: Over the 28 years, 24% of the pilot study area was disturbed. Increasing disturbance emissions, combined with declining net primary productivity and reductions in forest area, changed the study area from a net C sink to a net C source. Forest C stocks changed from 332.2 Mt to 327.5 Mt, declining at an average rate of 0.128 tC ha-1 yr-1. The largest cumulative areas of disturbance were caused by wildfire (139,000 ha), followed by the energy sector (110,000 ha), insects (33,000 ha) and harvesting (31,000 ha) but the largest cumulative disturbance emissions were caused by the energy sector (9.5 Mt C), followed by wildfire (5.5 Mt C), and then harvesting (1.3 Mt C). Conclusion: An existing forest C model was used successfully to provide a rigorous regional cumulative assessment of anthropogenic and natural disturbances on forest C, which meets requirements of EIAs in Canada. The assessment showed the relative importance of disturbances on C emissions in the pilot study area, but their relative importance is expected to change in other parts of the oil sands region because of its diversity in disturbance types, patterns and intensity. Future assessments should include peatland C stocks and fluxes, which could be addressed by using the Canadian Model for Peatlands.

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“…It is not valid for the revegetated sites, since they were not subject to this regime. Alternative procedures used in similar situations such as regeneration of forest on abandoned agricultural land derive these values from agricultural soil C databases [45] or use averages for nonforest soil types [41]. It would be reasonable to assume that the tailings were C-depleted at site establishment.…”

Section: Soil and Dom C Initializationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Long-Term Ecosystem Productivity Benefits and Potential Impacts of Forests Re-Established on a Mine Tailings Site

Metsaranta

Beauchemin

Langley

et al. 2018

Forests

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Restoring sites disturbed by industrial activity to a forested condition can ensure the continued provision of economic and ecosystem services from these areas. Impounded mine tailings are particularly challenging sites, and positive benefits of establishing trees must be balanced against risks associated with metal contamination, ongoing tailings stability, and the possibility of acid mine drainage. We used a hybrid biometric modelling approach based on dendrochronological reconstruction to retrospectively (1980–2015) quantify productivity and carbon dynamics of pine plantations growing on impounded mine tailings at the Vale waste management facility near Sudbury, Canada. Historical reclamation practices had remediated conditions sufficiently to allow conifer plantation establishment in the late 1970s. The revegetated sites were highly productive, when compared to reference conditions based on site index, wood volume growth, and ecosystem production, congruent with other studies showing that forests on revegetated post mining sites can be highly productive. However, metal concentrations in the forest floor were high, and further research is warranted to evaluate ecosystem impacts. Due to the requirement for energy-intensive inputs, we estimated that it took 12 years or more to recover the emissions associated with the revegetation process through C accumulated in biomass and soil at the revegetated sites.

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Carbon dynamics on agricultural land reverting to woody land in Ontario, Canada

Cited by 22 publications

References 24 publications

Cumulative effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbances on the forest carbon balance in the Oil Sands Region of Alberta, Canada; a pilot study (1984–2012)

Cumulative effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbances on the forest carbon balance in the Oil Sands Region of Alberta, Canada; a pilot study (1984–2012)

Cumulative effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbances on the forest carbon balance in the Oil Sands Region of Alberta, Canada; a pilot study (1985–2012)

Assessing the Long-Term Ecosystem Productivity Benefits and Potential Impacts of Forests Re-Established on a Mine Tailings Site

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