Pre-logging carbon accounts in old-growth forests, via allometry: An example of mixed-forest in Tasmania, Australia

Dean, Camin; Fitzgerald, Nicholas B.; Wardell‐Johnson, Grant

doi:10.1080/11263504.2011.638332

Cited by 20 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Thus, to minimize extrapolation errors, we used a conservative “large eucalypt” equation (Dean et al. ), including a decay modifier for internal rot (Roxburgh et al. ), for biomass estimates beyond 50 cm dbhob.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing fire impacts on the carbon stability of fire‐tolerant forests

Bennett

Bruce

MacHunter

et al. 2017

Ecological Applications

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The carbon stability of fire-tolerant forests is often assumed but less frequently assessed, limiting the potential to anticipate threats to forest carbon posed by predicted increases in forest fire activity. Assessing the carbon stability of fire-tolerant forests requires multi-indicator approaches that recognize the myriad ways that fires influence the carbon balance, including combustion, deposition of pyrogenic material, and tree death, post-fire decomposition, recruitment, and growth. Five years after a large-scale wildfire in southeastern Australia, we assessed the impacts of low- and high-severity wildfire, with and without prescribed fire (≤10 yr before), on carbon stocks in multiple pools, and on carbon stability indicators (carbon stock percentages in live trees and in small trees, and carbon stocks in char and fuels) in fire-tolerant eucalypt forests. Relative to unburned forest, high-severity wildfire decreased short-term (five-year) carbon stability by significantly decreasing live tree carbon stocks and percentage stocks in live standing trees (reflecting elevated tree mortality), by increasing the percentage of live tree carbon in small trees (those vulnerable to the next fire), and by potentially increasing the probability of another fire through increased elevated fine fuel loads. In contrast, low-severity wildfire enhanced carbon stability by having negligible effects on aboveground stocks and indicators, and by significantly increasing carbon stocks in char and, in particular, soils, indicating pyrogenic carbon accumulation. Overall, recent preceding prescribed fire did not markedly influence wildfire effects on short-term carbon stability at stand scales. Despite wide confidence intervals around mean stock differences, indicating uncertainty about the magnitude of fire effects in these natural forests, our assessment highlights the need for active management of carbon assets in fire-tolerant eucalypt forests under contemporary fire regimes. Decreased live tree carbon and increased reliance on younger cohorts for carbon recovery after high-severity wildfire could increase vulnerabilities to imminent fires, leading to decisions about interventions to maintain the productivity of some stands. Our multi-indicator assessment also highlights the importance of considering all carbon pools, particularly pyrogenic reservoirs like soils, when evaluating the potential for prescribed fire regimes to mitigate the carbon costs of wildfires in fire-prone landscapes.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing fire impacts on the carbon stability of fire‐tolerant forests

Bennett

Bruce

MacHunter

et al. 2017

Ecological Applications

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“…In many cases this is the relatively smaller number of large individuals within the stand (Brown and Lugo 1992, Brown et al 1997, Chave et al 2005, Roxburgh et al 2006, Dean et al 2012.…”

Section: Simulation Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Guidelines for constructing allometric models for the prediction of woody biomass: How many individuals to harvest?

et al. 2015

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Abstract. The recent development of biomass markets and carbon trading has led to increasing interest in obtaining accurate estimates of woody biomass production. Aboveground woody biomass (B) is often estimated indirectly using allometric models, where representative individuals are harvested and weighed, and regression analyses used to generalise the relationship between individual mass and more readily measured non-destructive attributes such as plant height and stem diameter (D). To satisfy regulatory requirements and/or to provide market confidence, allometric models must be based on sufficient data to ensure predictions are accurate, whilst at the same time being practically and financially achievable.Using computer resampling experiments and allometric models of the form B ¼ aD b the trade-off between increasing the sample size of individuals to construct an allometric model and the accuracy of the resulting biomass predictions was assessed. A range of algorithms for selecting individuals across the stem diameter size-class range were also explored. The results showed marked variability across allometric models in the required number of individuals to satisfy a given level of precision. A range of 17-95 individuals were required to achieve biomass predictions with a standard deviation within 5% of the mean for the best performing stem diameter selection algorithm, while 25-166 individuals were required for the poorest. This variability arises from (a) inherent uncertainty in the relationship between diameter and biomass across allometric models, and (b) differences between the diameter size-class distribution of individuals used to construct a model, and the diameter size-class distribution of the population to which the model is applied. Allometric models are a key component of quantifying land-based sequestration activities, but despite their importance little attention has been given to ensuring the methods used in their development will yield sufficiently accurate biomass predictions. The results from this study address this gap and will be of use in guiding the development of new allometric models; in assessing the suitability of existing allometric models; and in facilitating the estimation of uncertainty in biomass predictions.

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“…Physiological parameters for the species found in the study area were drawn from many sources (Read and Hill 1985;Cullen 1987;Kirkpatrick 1990;Read 1995;Brodribb and Feild 2000;Blackman et al 2010;Kirkpatrick et al 2010;Dean et al 2011) (see also Online Resource 1 for a complete listing of sources used). Often precise parameters were not available for species of interest, and were inferred from closely related species where empirical observations were available.…”

Section: Firebgcv2 Customizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling vegetation mosaics in sub-alpine Tasmania under various fire regimes

Yospin

Wood

Holz

et al. 2015

Model. Earth Syst. Environ.

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Western Tasmania, Australia contains some of the highest levels of biological endemism of any temperate region in the world, including vegetation types that are conservation priorities: fire-sensitive rainforest dominated by endemic conifer species in the genus Athrotaxis; and firetolerant buttongrass moorlands. Current management focuses on fire suppression, but increasingly there are calls for the use of prescribed fire in flammable vegetation types to manage these ecosystems. The long-term effects of climate and alternative management strategies on the vegetated landscape are unknown. To help identify controls over successional trajectories, we parameterized a spatially explicit landscapescale model of vegetation and fire (FireBGCv2) for a study area in Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park in western Tasmania using new data on fine-scale topography, plant communities, and fuels loads. Our parameterized model displays a high level of agreement with previous empirical and modeling studies for the region. The model was experimentally tested for three different levels of ignition suppression (0, 50, and 90 %); simulations ran for 1000 years and were replicated 10 times. The different scenarios yielded distinct fire return intervals, with cascading effects on successional dynamics and vegetation composition. Model results indicate that fire-sensitive endemic conifer rainforest will be restricted to upland refugia that total far less area than its present distribution, even under maximal ignition suppression. Because the distribution of vegetation types was unstable temporally and across stochastic replicates, present distributions may be a legacy of previous climate, Aboriginal fire management, or both.

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Pre-logging carbon accounts in old-growth forests, via allometry: An example of mixed-forest in Tasmania, Australia

Cited by 20 publications

References 29 publications

Assessing fire impacts on the carbon stability of fire‐tolerant forests

Assessing fire impacts on the carbon stability of fire‐tolerant forests

Guidelines for constructing allometric models for the prediction of woody biomass: How many individuals to harvest?

Modeling vegetation mosaics in sub-alpine Tasmania under various fire regimes

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