Carbon gains and recovery from degradation of forest biomass in European Union during 1990–2005 Aapo Rautiainen *, Laura Saikku, Pekka E. Kauppi University of Helsinki, Faculty of Biosciences, Finland 1. Introduction Research over the past two decades has consistently shown that European forest vegetation sequesters a significant amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (FAO, 2006). The main drivers of the carbon sink are less clear. Attention has been increasingly directed to the impacts of long-term changes of land use (Kandler, 1992; Kauppi et al., 2006; Ciais et al., 2008). Young stands grow vigorously, but even old-growth forests can act as a carbon sink (Luyssaert et al., 2008). It is important to compare the relative role in carbon sequestration of young vs. old forests, in order to predict the future development of sequestration given the anticipated dynamics of the forest landscape. This analysis is relevant for climate policy, because it contributes to the understanding of the impacts of forest management on long-term removal of carbon from the atmosphere. According to FAO (2006), forests in the 27 countries, which in 2008 were members of the European Union (=EU27), cover 156 million hectares and represent approximately 4% of global forest area and 5% of global growing stock volume. Net expansion of forest biomass has sequestered carbon dioxide, which annually corresponds to 8–10% of EUs fossil carbon dioxide emissions (Ciais et al., 2008; Nabuurs et al., 2008). Hence, the magnitude of the forest vegetation sink is approximately on par with EUs targeted emission reductions as agreed in the Kyoto protocol. If fossil emissions are lowered successfully, the relative contribution of forests will increase—assuming no absolute change in the rate of sequestration. It is important to understand the drivers of this sequestration flux, the threats to sequestration processes, and the long-term possibilities of maintaining and/or increasing the rate of carbon sequestration. Globally, the gross losses of approximately 13 million hectares per year dominate the planetary forest change. Most deforestation occurs in the tropics: between 2000 and 2005, Brazil and Indonesia together accounted for approximately two-thirds of global forest area losses, primarily due to the conversion of forests to agricultural land. By contrast, over the same time span, EU27 accounted for 12% global afforestation—a figure three times larger than its share of global forest area. The expansion of forests in reviving regions such as EU and China did not compensate for losses of forest area elsewhere. The reported global net loss was 7.3 million forest hectares per year, an area slightly smaller than Scotland—down from 8.9 million hectares per year in the 1990s (FAO, 2006). The development of the forest carbon stock, however, is primarily driven by changes of timber volume and biomass rather than forest area (Dixon et al., 1994). The timber volume in EU forests available for wood supply roughly doubled between 1950 and 2000. Also Net Annual Increment (NAI) increased substan- Forest Ecology and Management xxx (2009) xxx–xxx ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received 19 January 2009 Received in revised form 17 July 2009 Accepted 20 July 2009 Keywords: Forested landscape Carbon reserves Biomass carbon balance Carbon sequestration ABSTRACT The net gain of carbon in European Union (EU) forest vegetation during 1990–2005 was estimated at 360–400 Tg CO 2 year 1 by analysing international data. This amount is at low end of the range of recent corresponding estimates, but greater than earlier estimates published for the period 1971–1990. The sequestration took place almost exclusively in areas which were already forested in 1990. In 2005, new plantations, established after 1990, contributed only about 8% to the estimated net gain. The sequestration was estimated to be the greatest in Germany, France, Italy, Finland and Poland regardless of data source and method of estimation. On a per capita basis, the sequestration was estimated to be the greatest in Finland and Latvia. Carbon sequestration in forests is an important component of the long- term carbon balance of the EU. Carbon sequestration in forests is partly driven by a recovery of the ecosystems from human-induced degradation in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. Forest management has affected carbon sequestration and merits attention in climate policy presuming that new policies and measures are reconciled with those already in place for the promotion of the diverse goals of land management in Europe. ß 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author at: P.O. Box 27, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland. Tel.: +358 9 1911. E-mail address: aapo.rautiainen@helsinki.fi (A. Rautiainen). G Model FORECO-11788; No of Pages 7 Please cite this article in press as: Rautiainen, A., et al., Carbon gains and recovery from degradation of forest biomass in European Union during 1990–2005. Forest Ecol. Manage. (2009), doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2009.07.043 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Forest Ecology and Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foreco 0378-1127/$ – see front matter ß 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2009.07.043