Can wood harvest followed by forest regrowth enhance carbon sequestration of the forest sector in China?

Abstract

Forest management policies play a crucial role in enhancing the carbon sequestration capacities of forests. China's current harvest-prohibitive policies may result in the development of old-growth forests and the eventual saturation of their carbon stocks. This study combines empirically derived forest biomass growth models, spatially explicit information on forest age and live biomass carbon stock, and life cycle analysis to explore whether wood harvesting followed by forest regrowth can enhance carbon sequestration in the forest sector for 2021–2060 in China, by accounting for carbon stock changes in both live biomass and harvested wood products (HWP). The results showed that the net effect of wood harvesting on carbon sequestration, compared to that without any harvesting, is crucially dependent on the half-life of HWP and, secondarily, on harvest intensity. The ‘no-harvest’ scenario will enable 9.58 Pg more carbon to be stored in the forest live biomass by 2060 compared to that in 2020. Wood harvesting under the current average half-life of HWP in China (12.5 years) will enhance the forest sector's capability to sequester carbon with a light harvest intensity and diminish it with an intensive harvest intensity. However, the carbon sequestration capacity of the forest sector would increase, irrespective of the harvest intensity, if the HWP half-life could be doubled (25 years) or even quadrupled (50 years). Our findings highlighted the potential positive role of wood harvesting in increasing the carbon sequestration capacity of the forest sector in China and provide useful perspectives for drafting national forest management policies.