Coeli Hoover, Stephanie Rebain, Linda S. Heath, and James E. Smith. USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Durham, NH 03824
As the number of state and regional climate change agreements grows, so does the need to assess the carbon implications of planned forest management actions. At the operational level, producing detailed stock estimates for the primary carbon pools becomes time consuming and cumbersome. FVS Carbon is a new tool that is fully integrated within the Forest Vegetation Simulator, allowing users to produce carbon reports along with traditional FVS output. This added capability can be used by managers familiar with FVS and requires just a few additional keywords. All methodologies and computations are consistent with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and US standards. In this paper we present a current carbon inventory for the Kane Experimental Forest, a 1,737 acre Allegheny hardwood forest located in northwestern Pennsylvania. Future carbon stocks are also projected using the new carbon budgeting capabilities of FVS. We discuss the underlying principles of carbon accounting and highlight practical considerations to consider when planning and implementing carbon budget analyses.