Conservation and Carbon
How do the Forest Society of Maine's Conserved Lands Contribute to Mitigating Climate Change Through Carbon Storage and Sequestration?
My name is Caroline Hilli. I am a Forestland Steward for the Forest Society of Maine and recently completed my MS in Environmental GIS through Unity College. I partnered with FSM to complete my Senior Capstone Project, and below I present my project and results.
About FSM
FSM holds 48 conservation easements and has 4 fee properties.
FSM conserves over 850,000 acres in conservation easements and fee properties and has assisted in the conservation of over 1.1 million acres.
Carbon Dioxide (CO 2 )
A greenhouse gas that occurs naturally, however, scientific data indicates that humans are accelerating the rate of carbon release into the atmosphere.
There is potential for humans to exceed the physiological tolerances of the earth and emit more GHGs (including carbon dioxide) than are tolerable for a habitable environment.
Carbon Sequestration
A process that involves the transfer of atmospheric carbon dioxide into other long-lived pools where it can be stored.
Plants, especially trees and forests, have the capacity to play a huge role by pulling in carbon dioxide through the photosynthesis process to produce carbon-based sugars necessary for wood growth. Trees store carbon throughout their entire system including the roots, trunk, branches, and leaves.
FSMs forest conservation efforts contribute greatly to biological carbon storage and sequestration. FSM's conservation projects help prevent land cover change (from forest and wetlands to another use which would prevent further sequestration) and ensures that trees and soil will continue to provide these essential functions.
FSM Land Cover
FSM focuses on conserving forests in Maine. As the map shows, while Maine has an astounding amount of tree cover, there is great value in ensuring that it continues to be forest.
FSM's Contribution to Connectivity
FSM's conserved lands are part of a much larger network of connected conserved lands. This helps ensure connectedness for plant and animal species to adapt to a changing climate. FSM's work helps ensure climate resiliency both through the connectedness and maintenance of large parcels of forest, which as previously noted, provide significant benefit by sequestering and storing carbon.
Carbon Stored on FSM Conserved Lands
Using the TNC Resilient Land Mapping Tool carbon data was analyzed for each protected property and then summarized at the county level to highlight the impact of FSM's projects.
The three most important numbers from the data are the estimated forest carbon stored as of 2010, the expected amount of forest carbon to be stored by 2050, and the rate of sequestration over the 40-year period.
The 2010 estimate takes into account carbon stock which was calculated for forested 30-m pixels. The calculation takes into consideration forest type, disturbance, and productivity.
The 2050 potential was obtained using the same method as the 2010 data, but it assumes there will be no disturbance to the forest during the 40-year time period. While we know this is an inexact methodology it provides context for the scale of the potential for these lands.
Using the 2010 data we can estimate that FSM-conserved lands have sequestered and stored just over 61 million metric tons of carbon.
It is predicted that by 2050 the FSM-conserved lands could accumulate just over 70 million metric tons of carbon.
Through averaging the sequestration rates, I determined that FSM conservation projects have the ability to sequester about 0.23 mt C/ac/yr. These sequestration numbers only account for the aboveground carbon on the protected properties.
Giving Carbon Numbers Context
While the numbers outlined above are staggering, the interpretation of them can be enhanced by adding context. The average American is responsible for about 16 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO 2 e) emissions each year.
Using the previously presented data about FSM's project capabilities, it is estimated that FSM project lands sequester the carbon emissions for approximately 45,300 Americans each year.
Given that, it's clear there is more work to be done to ensure forests are maintained on the landscape for the valuable benefits they provide!
Many of the numbers used in this study were estimates and averages due to the ambiguity of carbon data sources. Estimating carbon stocks and sequestration is extremely difficult and varies with many factors, such as vegetation age, tree species, land management practices, etc.
TNC is currently working on updating the Resilient Land Mapping Tool, and other organizations, such as the University of Maine, are also collecting carbon data. Hopefully, over the coming years, FSM will have access to new/updated carbon data, and we will be able to provide updated estimates of how the organization is helping combat climate change.
Sources
Climate Adaptation Science Centers. (2022, March 3). Biological Carbon Sequestration. Biological Carbon Sequestration | U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/biological-carbon-sequestration
EPA. 2022. “Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.” EPA. Environmental Protection Agency. March. https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator#results.
Lal, R. (2008, February 27). Carbon sequestration. National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2610111/
Stancil, J. M. (2019, June 3). The Power of One Tree - The Very Air We Breathe. USDA. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2015/03/17/power-one-tree-very-air-we-breathe#:~:text=Through%20a%20process%20called%20photosynthesis,and%20released%20by%20the%20tree.
Swanteson‐Franz, Rachel J., Daniel J. Krofcheck, and Matthew D. Hurteau. 2018. “Quantifying Forest Carbon Dynamics as a Function of Tree Species Composition and Management under Projected Climate.” Ecosphere 9 (4). https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2191 .
Tso, K. (2020, December 2). How much is a ton of carbon dioxide? MIT Climate Portal. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/how-much-ton-carbon-dioxide
UCDavis. (2022, January 31). Carbon Sequestration. UC Davis. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from https://climatechange.ucdavis.edu/climate/definitions/carbon-sequestration
