Stock of standing dead trees in boreal forests of Central Siberia

A significant part of carbon assimilated by forest is deposited in tree trunks. Growth and development of tree stands is accompanied by accumulation of standing dead trees (snags) due to natural tree mortality and as a result of the impact of exogenous factors. Carbon accumulated in these dead trunks is excluded from the fast turnover due to low rate of wood decomposition, so that snags can be considered as a pool of organic carbon with a slow rate of its return to the atmosphere. We estimated stock of snags on 54 sample plots, which represent the main types of forest ecosystems in the northern and middle taiga of Central Siberia. In the middle taiga, stock of snags varied from up to 7 m3 ha-1 in Siberian spruce forests to 20-42 m3 ha-1 in Scots pine forests. Larch forests in the northern taiga had the similar stock of snags as larch forests in the middle taiga despite significantly higher growing stock in the later. Snags contributed from 4 to 19% to the total stock of woody biomass in studied forests. This study indicated the significance of snags and can be used to estimate carbon budget of forest ecosystems of the region

The pool of organic carbon in the soils of Russia

An automated information system making it possible to estimate spatial distribution of soil organic carbon pool with a high spatial resolution (1 km2) has been developed. According to the obtained estimates, the total pool of organic carbon in the 1-m-deep soil layer on the territory of Russia reaches 317.1 Pg; the average organic carbon density in this layer for the entire Russia constitutes 19.2 kg C/m2. Of this amount, 14.4 Pg (or 0.90 kg C/m2) is stored in the litter horizon. The developed algorithm allows us to refine the results with the acquisition of new data on soils, vegetation, and the degree of their disturbance, which is particularly important in the changing world

Forest Biomass Observation: Current State and Prospective

With this article, we provide an overview of the methods, instruments and initiatives for forest biomass observation at a global scale. We focus on the freely available information provided by both remote and in-situ observations. The advantages and limitation of various space borne methods, including optical, radar (C, L and P band) and LiDAR, as well as respective instruments available on the orbit (MODIS, Proba-V, Landsat, Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 , ALOS PALSAR, Envisat ASAR) or expecting (BIOMASS, GEDI, NISAR, SAOCOM-CS) are discussed. We emphasize the role of in-situ methods in the development of a biomass models, providing calibration and validation of remote sensing data. We focus on freely available forest biomass maps, databases and empirical models. We describe the functionality of Biomass.Geo-Wiki.org portal, which provides access to a collection of global and regional biomass maps in full resolution with unified legend and units overplayed with high-resolution imagery. The Forest-Observation-System.net is announced as an international cooperation to establish a global in-situ forest biomass database to support earth observation and to encourage investment in relevant field-based observations and science. Prospects of unmanned aerial vehicles in the forest inventory are briefly discussed. The work was partly supported by ESA IFBN project (contract 4000114425/15/NL/FF/gp)

Methodology for generating a global forest management layer

The first ever global map of forest management was generated based on remote sensing data. To collect training data, we launched a series of Geo-Wiki (https://www.geo-wiki.org/) campaigns involving forest experts from different world regions, to explore which information related to forest management could be collected by visual interpretation of very high-resolution images from Google Maps and Microsoft Bing, Sentinel time series and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) profiles derived from Google Earth Engine. A machine learning technique was then used with the visually interpreted sample (280K locations) as a training dataset to classify PROBA-V satellite imagery. Finally, we obtained a global wall-to-wall map of forest management at a 100m resolution for the year 2015. The map includes classes such as intact forests; forests with signs of management, including logging; planted forests; woody plantations with a rotation period up to 15 years; oil palm plantations; and agroforestry. The map can be used to deliver further information about forest ecosystems, protected and observed forest status changes, biodiversity assessments, and other ecosystem-related aspects

Application of Mineral Fertilizers in Forests with Respect to Forest Carbon Budget

Carbon sequestration and conservation is one of the important ecosystem functions of the forest. The task of modern science is to explore the possibilities of enhancing this function in order to counter the increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Sustainable and climate smart forestry, in particular the use of mineral fertilizers, are an effective way to increase the productivity of forests and enhance their carbon-sequestration capacity. This review aims to summarize the experience of using mineral fertilizers in boreal and temperate forests. It is concluded that fertilization should be selective, and it is most effective in combination with other forest management operations. A significant effect is observed on sites with medium-productivity conditions on sites with sufficient, but not excessive moisture, at the age of the maximum current increment of biomass or commercial wood (40–70 years for coniferous species). The most common (inexpensive, but effective) are N-fertilizers, but it is necessary to control the content of other nutrients, in particular P, Kand B. We have collected and published a database of long-term experiments on the application of mineral fertilizers. Experiments have shown that the absorption of 1 t of CO2-eq. requires from 5.6 to 10.3 kg (on average 7.2) of nitrogen. The results of a fertilizer application project should be compared against the baseline(without fertilizer application), and the difference can be counted in emission reduction units

A global reference dataset for remote sensing of forest biomass. The Forest Observation System approach

Forest biomass is an essential indicator for monitoring the Earth’s ecosystems and climate. It is a critical input to greenhouse gas accounting, estimation of carbon losses and forest degradation, assessment of renewable energy potential, and for developing climate change mitigation policies such as REDD+, among others. Wall-to-wall mapping of aboveground biomass (AGB) is now possible with satellite remote sensing (RS). However, RS methods require extant, up-to-date, reliable, representative and comparable in situ data for calibration and validation. Here, we present the Forest Observation System (FOS) initiative, an international cooperation to establish and maintain a global in situ forest biomass database. AGB and canopy height estimates with their associated uncertainties are derived at a 0.25ha scale from field measurements made in permanent research plots across the world's forests. All plot estimates are geolocated and have a size that allows for direct comparison with many RS measurements. The FOS offers the potential to improve the accuracy of RS-based biomass products while developing new synergies between the RS and ground-based ecosystem research communities. Live, most up-to-date dataset is available at https://forest-observation-system.net