Terrestrial carbon in Wales.

Abstract

The increasing concentration of carbon dioxide [CO₂] in the atmosphere, as well as other greenhouse gases, is predicted to raise the mean global air temperature. Increasing the mean global air temperature could have effects on the climate system, which will seriously affect human affairs. For greenhouse gas CO₂, its impacts on the mean global air temperature can be reduced in three ways: (i) by reducing the C emission, (ii) by protecting the C currently locked up in soils and trees, and (iii) by enhancing the uptake rate of CO₂ from the atmosphere into those C reservoirs.
In this study, C storage in soils and vegetation in Wales were estimated. Estimation of the terrestrial C requires knowing the ex tent of, and obtaining a C density for, each soil and vegetation. In addition, the C sequestered in softwood (Sitka spruce) and hardwood (Beech) trees and wood products in Wales using different management factors (i.e. thinning regime, rotation length and stand age structure) was determined. For each management factor, the C storage was quantified by multiplying the area of the Adjusted Yield Class (AYC) by fixed C calculated from Willis-Price C model.
The C content held by soils in Wales estimated to be about 515 Mt C in the upper 100 cm, of which 34% was in the upper 15 cm. Wales vegetation C was estimated to be about 16 Mt ([(16/ (515+16)x100] = 3% of the terrestrial C in Wales). Furthermore, the amount of C fixed by softwood (Sitka spruce) and hardwood (Beech) increased with increasing rotation length. However, Sitka spruce fixed C more than Beech.

Date of Award	Jan 2006
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Wales, Bangor
Supervisor	Davey Jones (Supervisor)