1. How should forest landowners estimate carbon growth and yield from FIA data? Paul Van Deusen NCASI New Orleans March 3,2009 Le Pavillon Hotel

2. How much carbon is on my land and how much is it sequestering? Input you should have How many acres/hectares you have? What species and age class? Ideally, your own inventory What you really want to know How much will be sequestered next year? Things you do have How many acres total (but not necessarily forested)

3. Options to be considered 1) Use COLE or GTR NE-343 2) Use raw FIA data 3) Use FIA data and remote sensing data

4. COLE or GTR NE-343 Is GTR NE-343 or a COLE report good enough NE-343 and COLE use similar methods Are you willing to use tables of average carbon pools from a state or county. If yes, then it's a walk in the (carbon) park...

5. Comparing COLE tables with FIA data COLE tables show carbon pools by age class  Age class may not be a good descriptor for mixed species/age stands How do growth estimates from COLE tables compare to FIA growth estimates?  Growth in COLE is inferred by comparing age classes

6. What components matter for estimating annual change? Live tree Understory Down dead Forest floor  Live tree change is the most reliable.  Maybe a small owner with no inventory should ignore the other pools.

7. COLE: Definitions of table columns (In case there are questions)

9. Loblolly pine annual GS growth (Georgia, FIA data) All owners

10. COLE Growth and Yield: Von Bertalanffy equation, Loblolly from Georgia.

11. Loblolly pine annual GS growth (Georgia, FIA data) Private Land Only

12. Estimating carbon directly from FIA data

13. Example: Estimating Carbon Sequestered at Fort Benning, GA Assume you have no inventory information You want to use FIA data Use your favorite tool for accessing FIA data  Mapmaker, FIDO, mine is GForest

14. Gforest http://ncasi.uml.edu

15. Fort Benning

16. Fort Benning FIA Plots (3 counties)

17. Fort Benning FIA Pine Plots

18. Fort Benning Forest Acres (thousands) Total Base Covers 182,000 acres Based on Gforest and FIA data: Feb, 2009 Softwood has >50% BA in sftwd species

19. Fort Benning AG Carbon (tons) Based on Gforest and FIA data: Feb, 2009

20. Fort Benning Live Carbon Growth Based on Gforest and FIA data: Feb, 2009

21. Fort Benning – Why are some growth numbers negative?

22. Finally, a comment about FIA data in combination with remotely sensed data

23. Ft Benning Plots And NLCD data Combining FIA data with remotely sensed data seems promising. It needs to be made user friendly for land owners.

24. Summary The best way to estimate carbon stocks and sequestration on your land is by maintaining a forest inventory  Inventories are too expensive for most owners COLE and GTR NE-343 may be the easiest options Working with FIA data via an on-line interface can work for larger owners who have no inventory -Could also combine FIA data with a local inventory or remotely sensed data...