Dynamics of Carbon Storage and Its Drivers in Guangdong Province from 1979 to 2012

Abstract

Accurately estimating the carbon storage of forest ecosystems and deriving the driving factors affecting forest carbon storage are the prerequisites and foundations for promoting the development of global carbon sinks. In order to explore an effective approach for monitoring the carbon sink of forests in developed coastal areas on a large scale, in this paper, Guangdong Province was taken as the case study region; eight periods plots of data of national forest resources continuous inventory were used to estimate the forest carbon storage and carbon density in Guangdong Province from 1979 to 2012; unary linear regression and standard deviation ellipse were used to analyze the dynamic change of carbon storage; and the structural equation model was used to study the driving factors of forest carbon storage. The results showed that: (1) From 1979 to 2012, the forest carbon storage in Guangdong Province increased by 15,087.93 × 104 t, and the forest carbon density increased by 17.66 t/ha. (2) After 2007, the main body of forest carbon storage changed from coniferous species to broadleaf species. (3) From 1979 to 2012, the proportion of young and middle-aged forest carbon storage continued to decline, but it still occupied the dominant component. (4) The forest carbon storage and carbon density in the northern region of Guangdong Province are higher than those in the southern region. (5) Stand factors and environmental factors have a positive effect on forest carbon storage, and understory factors have a negative effect. In conclusion, although forest carbon storage has fluctuated under the influence of forestry policies and human activities, the overall carbon storage and carbon density of Guangdong Province have been increasing. Tree species have become more abundant and the proportion of coniferous forest to broadleaf forest became more rationalized. The forest age group structure is continuously optimized. We also compared our results with that of other provinces in China and other countries with approximate latitude and climatic conditions. The carbon sink potential of Guangdong Province is huge in the future.

Estimating Carbon Sequestration Potential of Forest and Its Influencing Factors at Fine Spatial-Scales: A Case Study of Lushan City in Southern China

“…In this study, the PLSR was used to explore the conditional factors of carbon sequestration potential [ 41 , 42 ] to effectively remove the interference of non-interpretative information. The results of carbon sequestration potential values were used as dependent variables to analyze the influence of single trait factors.…”

Estimation and Spatio-Temporal Change Analysis of NPP in Subtropical Forests: A Case Study of Shaoguan, Guangdong, China

“…The structural equation model (SEM) [9,[54][55][56][57][58] is an advanced and robust multivariate statistical method that combines factor analysis and regression analysis, allowing hypothesis testing on a complex network of path relationships to analyze the relationship between measured variables and latent variables, as well as the relationship between each latent variable. The SEM is composed of a measurement model and structural model.…”

“…The localization observation uses the extrapolation method, which is the extrapolation of sample survey points to the whole region. Although the rationality is insufficient, the estimation uses spatially measured data; thus, it can still be used as a reference for NPP estimation [9]. At the regional or global scale, because forest ecosystems are the most complex types of structural levels and functional behaviors on Earth, the impacts of environmental changes and human activities on forests and the feedback effects of forests are long-term.…”