Summary
Station scientists developed the first estimates of above-ground carbon flux and storage in trees within the national forests of Alaska. While the Tongass National Forest had no detectable change in aboveground tree carbon, the Chugach National Forest had an average annual increase of 182,000 metric tons of carbon. Managed and unmanaged forest within the Tongass National Forest had substantially different storage and flux in log, tree, and snag carbon pools. Species shifts on the Tongass National Forest included an increase in red alder, an increase in western red cedar on unmanaged lands, and a decrease in yellow-cedar on managed lands. As of 2013, national forests are required to assess baseline carbon stocks, a prerequisite to including carbon services into forest management decisions. The Chugach National Forest, an early adopter of the new planning rule, is using these results in its forest assessment.
