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Carbon Inventory Methods Handbook for Greenhouse Gas Inventory, Carbon Mitigation and Roundwood Production Projects

N. H. Ravindranath Madelene Ostwald

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Institución detectada Año de publicación Navegá Descargá Solicitá
No detectada 2008 SpringerLink

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Tipo de recurso:

libros

ISBN impreso

978-1-4020-6546-0

ISBN electrónico

978-1-4020-6547-7

Editor responsable

Springer Nature

País de edición

Reino Unido

Fecha de publicación

Información sobre derechos de publicación

© Springer Netherlands 2008

Tabla de contenidos

Methods for Estimating Above-Ground Biomass

N. H. Ravindranath; Madelene Ostwald

Above-ground biomass includes all biomass in living vegetation, both woody and herbaceous, above the soil including stems, stumps, branches, bark, seeds and foliage. Above-ground biomass is the most visible of all the carbon pools, and changes in it are an important indicator of change or of the impact of an intervention on benefits related to both carbon mitigation and other matters. Above-ground biomass is a key pool for most land-based projects. The features and the need for measuring and monitoring above-ground biomass, its importance to national greenhouse gas inventory and different project types as well as the frequency of measurement of the pool are described in Chapter 4. The different methods available for estimation and monitoring of above-ground biomass pool are described in Chapter 9. Among all the methods described in Chapter 9, the “plot method” is described in detail in this chapter.

Pp. 113-147

Methods for Below-Ground Biomass

N. H. Ravindranath; Madelene Ostwald

Below-ground biomass is defined as the entire biomass of all live roots, although fine roots less than 2 mm in diameter are often excluded because these cannot easily be distinguished empirically from soil organic matter. Below-ground biomass is an important carbon pool for many vegetation types and land-use systems and accounts for about 20% (Santantonio et al. 1997) to 26% (Cairns et al. 1997) of the total biomass. Below-ground biomass accumulation is linked to the dynamics of above-ground biomass. The greatest proportion of root biomass occurs in the top 30 cm of the soil surface (Bohm 1979; Jackson et al. 1996). Revegetation of degraded land leads to continual accumulation of below-ground biomass whereas any disturbance to topsoil leads to loss of below-ground biomass.

Since below-ground biomass could account for 20– 26% of the total biomass, it is important to estimate this pool for most carbon mitigation as well as other landbased projects. Estimation of stock changes in below-ground biomass is also necessary for greenhouse gas inventory at national level for different land-use categories such as forest lands, cropland and grassland. This chapter presents methods of estimating and monitoring below-ground biomass.

Pp. 149-156

Methods for Dead Organic Matter: Deadwood and Litter

N. H. Ravindranath; Madelene Ostwald

Dead organic matter consists of deadwood and litter. Stems and branches of deadwood 10 cm or larger in diameter form the deadwood pool and those smaller than that constitute litter (see Chapter 4 for a definition). Inclusion of dead organic matter pool makes the estimated changes in total carbon stock more accurate. Most of the biomass not harvested or burnt is added to the deadwood, litter and soil carbon pools. The dynamics of dead organic matter vary with the type of forest or plantation as well as with the purpose behind protecting a forest or raising a new forest. In fuelwood plantations or community forestry projects, the woody part of the dead organic matter is likely to be removed and used as fuelwood. However, in the case of avoided deforestation projects involving protection of forests, dead organic matter accumulates on the forest floor. Further, land-use change, particularly from forests and plantations to other land uses such as cropland or grassland, leads to complete loss of dead organic matter.

Pp. 157-163

Methods for Estimating Soil Organic Carbon

N. H. Ravindranath; Madelene Ostwald

Soil is the largest reservoirs of carbon, accounting for 2011 GtC, or 81% of the total carbon in the terrestrial biosphere (WBGU 1998). Flow of carbon between soil and the atmosphere is a continuous process, highly influenced by land use and management (Paustian et al. 1997). Organic carbon stored in soil is an important carbon pool for many land-use systems and projects, and even for national greenhouse gas inventories of different land-use categories. “Soil organic carbon” is also often referred to as “soil organic matter”. Soil organic matter includes the whole non-mineral fraction of soil ranging from decayed plant and animal matter to brown to black material that bears no trace of the original anatomical structure of the material and is normally defined as “soil humus”. Soil organic matter also includes living and dead microbial tissue, compounds synthesized by microorganisms and derivatives of these materials produced as a result of microbial decay. Soil organic carbon as defined by IPCC (2006) comprises “organic carbon in mineral soils to a specific depth chosen, also including live and dead fine roots within the soil”. Although both organic and inorganic forms of carbon are found in soil, land use and management typically has a larger impact on the stocks of organic carbon. Therefore, this chapter focuses on soil organic carbon. Further, soil organic carbon is relevant to both mineral and organic soils. Organic soils contain a minimum of 12– 20% organic matter by mass and are found under poorly drained conditions of wetlands (Brady and Weil 1999). All other soils are classified as mineral soils, which typically have relatively low amounts of organic matter. Mineral soils dominate most ecosystems except wetlands and are the focus of this chapter.

Pp. 165-180

Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques for Terrestrial Carbon Inventory

N. H. Ravindranath; Madelene Ostwald

Remote sensing is a technique that holds great potential for long-term monitoring of changes in area and carbon stocks. This chapter discusses the application of different techniques for different project types in terms of feasibility and reliability; highlights uncertainties, cost and required technical capacity; describes the application of geographical information systems (GIS) methods for carbon inventory for different projects; and also assesses the role of remote sensing and GIS techniques for long-term carbon inventory.

Pp. 181-199

Modelling for Estimation and Projection of Carbon Stocks in Land-Use Systems

N. H. Ravindranath; Madelene Ostwald

Models are simplified versions of a system used to estimate and project certain features or functions or outputs of a system. In order to study a system scientifically a set of assumptions about how it works is often made. These assumptions, which usually take the form of mathematical or logical relationships, constitute a model (Law and Kelton 2000). Models are used to make projections of carbon stocks in forests, plantations, grasslands and cropping systems. Models are used to make separate projections for biomass and soil carbon stocks in different pools. Further, models are also available to project above-ground and below-ground biomass separately. Models are often based on several assumptions about data and quantitative relationship between input variables and output values. Thus, model outputs are often characterized by uncertainty due to assumptions made about the relationships between variables.

Pp. 201-215

Carbon Inventory Methods for National Greenhouse Gas Inventory

N. H. Ravindranath; Madelene Ostwald

Global carbon cycle involves exchange of CO between the atmosphere and the biosphere, apart from oceans. Plants fix CO from the atmosphere during photosynthesis to produce organic matter, which is stored in above- and below-ground parts. Bulk of the biomass in above- and below-ground plant parts is eventually transferred to the dead organic matter pool or it is oxidized or burnt. Dead organic matter, which consists of deadwood (standing as well as fallen) and litter, is either decomposed or oxidized, or stored for longer periods above or below the ground as detritus. CO fixed by plants ends up in soil as organic matter or in finer forms as humus through the process of decomposition. Thus, CO removed from the atmosphere is stored as dead and living biomass or soil carbon in the biosphere.

Pp. 217-235

Estimation of Carbon Stocks and Changes and Data Sources

N. H. Ravindranath; Madelene Ostwald

The main goal of carbon inventory projects and programmes is to estimate carbon stocks and changes in those stocks annually or at different times. Chapters 10– 13 described the methods for measuring and monitoring different indicator parameters from which carbon stocks in different carbon pools can be estimated. The next step is to estimate the carbon stocks and changes, using the parameters measured and monitored in the field and in the laboratory. The analysis and calculation of carbon stocks and changes involve conversion of field and laboratory estimates of various parameters from sample plots, such as diameter at breast height (DBH), height and soil organic carbon content, into tonnes of carbon per hectare per year or over several years using different methods and models.

Pp. 237-270

Uncertainty Estimation, Quality Assurance and Quality Control

N. H. Ravindranath; Madelene Ostwald

Carbon stocks and changes should be neither overestimated nor underestimated as far as can be judged (IPCC 2000). The uncertainty is normally high in biological and land-use sectors given the large variation in factors contributing to carbon stocks and changes. Uncertainty in the estimates that make up a carbon inventory is considered as a barrier in land-use sector, particularly in forest sector, to mitigating climate change. The uncertainty in estimated carbon stock and changes in landuse sectors is often estimated to be 25– 70% of the actual values, which has to be considered high. As a consequence, assessing the reliability and accuracy of the estimated carbon stocks and changes becomes a critical requirement, and the goal of any carbon inventory programme should be to minimize such uncertainty. It is always desirable that reported estimates of carbon stocks and changes are accompanied by estimates of uncertainty: most often, this is not so because of the complexities involved in estimating uncertainties; also, not all sources of uncertainty can be quantified. The uncertainties are in many cases so high that project managers or inventory compilers hesitate to estimate and report them.

Pp. 271-280

Implications of Climate Change for Carbon Stocks and Inventory

N. H. Ravindranath; Madelene Ostwald

All land-based projects require carbon inventory. Carbon inventory for land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) projects for climate change mitigation is contentious because of both methodological issues and uncertainty in the data required to estimate gains in carbon stocks. LULUCF projects include carbon mitigation activities in three categories, namely forestry, cropland and grassland. The complexity of methods for estimation and projection of carbon stock changes leads to several methodological issues, which are important to consider at different phases of a project cycle. Examples of methodological issues are non-permanence, leakage and additionality of carbon gains. Some of these issues are also relevant to non-climate mitigation, land-based conservation and development projects. Issues such as non-permanence are unique to land-based mitigation projects. The following methodological issues are addressed in this chapter:

● ?Baseline

● ?Additionality or incrementality

● ?Permanence

● ?Leakage

● ?Project boundary

● ?Scale of projects

Pp. 281-287