Biophysical considerations in forestry for climate protection
Year: 2010
Type: article
Abstract: Forestry – including afforestation (the planting of trees on land where they have not recently existed), reforestation, avoided deforestation, and forest management – can lead to increased sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide and has therefore been proposed as a strategy to mitigate climate change. However, forestry also influences land‐surface properties, including albedo (the fraction of incident sunlight reflected back to space), surface roughness, and evapotranspiration, all of which affect the amount and forms of energy transfer to the atmosphere. In some circumstances, these biophysical feedbacks can result in local climate warming, thereby counteracting the effects of carbon sequestration on global mean temperature and reducing or eliminating the net value of climate‐change mitigation projects. Here, we review published and emerging research that suggests ways in which forestry projects can counteract the consequences associated with biophysical interactions, and highlight knowledge gaps in managing forests for climate protection. We also outline several ways in which biophysical effects can be incorporated into frameworks that use the maintenance of forests as a climate protection strategy.
DOI: 10.1890/090179
Institutions: University of California, Irvine, CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Duke University, Northern Arizona University, University of California, Berkeley, Carnegie Institution for Science, NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, Purdue University West Lafayette, Stanford University, University of California, Merced, Oregon State University, University of Antwerp, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement
Language: English
Topic: Forest Management and Policy
Subfield: Forestry
Domain: Life Sciences
SDGs: Climate action, Life on land
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2139368654