Partially logged rainforests could be emitting more carbon than assumed

Hayley Dunning at Imperial College (London): Global carbon emissions from forests could have been underestimated because calculations have not fully accounted for the dead wood from logging.

Living trees take in carbon dioxide whereas dead and decaying ones release it. Understanding the proportion of both is important for determining whether a large area of forest is a source of carbon dioxide, or a ‘sink’ that helps to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Forestry, agriculture and land-use changes account for nearly 25 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, second only to the energy sector. New research led by Imperial College London on partially-logged tropical rainforests suggests that these forests are probably emitting more carbon than assumed, because they contain a high proportion of dead wood. The study, published in Environmental Research Letters, reveals that in these forests dead wood can make up to 64 per cent of the biomass, the biological material found above ground.

In untouched forests, dead wood is created through natural processes and makes up less than 20 per cent of the total aboveground biomass. Previously, when estimating the carbon emissions from logged tropical rainforests, researchers have assumed that when live trees are cut down and moved out of the forest, the amount of dead wood is reduced proportionately.

However, the new research paints a clearer picture of the situation in selectively-logged forests where only high-value trees are removed. It shows that because selective logging leaves behind significant damage and tree debris, dead wood actually accounts for up to 64 per cent of the total aboveground biomass.

“I was surprised by how much of the biomass dead wood accounted for in badly logged forests,” said lead author Dr Marion Pfeifer from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial. “That such logged forests are not properly accounted for in carbon calculations is a significant factor. It means that a large proportion of forests worldwide are less of a sink and more of a source, especially immediately following logging, as carbon dioxide is released from the dead wood during decomposition.”....

Jami Dwyer took this shot of jungle burned for agriculture. Public domain