Wood Use and Forest Management for Carbon Sequestration in Community Forestry in Sierra Juárez, Mexico

Abstract

Forest managers and policy-makers are being encouraged to incorporate carbon sequestration as a criterion for decision-making. This is a great challenge for small-scale forestry where the conspicuous lack of practical knowledge available for managers prevents the implementation of criteria to promote carbon sequestration. The carbon simulation model CO2FIX combined with local data could provide valuable information for C sequestration in these small-scale forestry systems. The research reported here focuses on community forestry located in the Juarez Mountain Range (Oaxaca State, Mexico), and analyzes the influences of forest management and wood-use (20 scenarios based on five forest management plans and four wood-use strategies) on the changes of C stock (biomass C, soil organic C, products C and fuelwood C) over time. The comparison of the whole stocks to reference results show that group-selection, based on an uneven-aged forest management system involving small patches, has only about half the C benefit relative to clear-cutting harvesting. A forest management strategy focused on oak logwood has a lower C benefit (70 %), and a forest management strategy focused on oak fuelwood has a higher C benefit (120 %) relative to the average of the studied wooduse strategies. Thus, in the study area forest managers and policy-makers who wish to mitigate climate change should increase the rotation period from 40 to 50 years in clear-cutting areas, continue with 40 years in group-selection areas, and promote the use of oak for bioenergy.

A trait-based approach to both forestry and timber building can synchronize forest harvest and resilience

“…The wood-building industry has a long history of influencing silvicultural and management practices, promoting economic profitability and forestry efficiency through clearcutting, monoculture plantation, or silvicultural interventions that favored only a few merchantable tree species and the simplification of forests ( 5 ). Additionally, the rapidly increasing use of wood in tall construction and increased mechanization of forestry operations have accelerated the supply and demand for higher timber volumes, further exacerbating the simplification of forests and impacting everything from forest structure and composition to carbon and soil dynamics ( 6 , 7 ). Timber products, such as cross-laminated timber (CLT), are one example of such high wood volume, monospecies wood products being promoted and advertised by the wood construction industry as a viable way to reduce the high emissions and carbon footprint of construction ( 8 ).…”

Three Decades of Forest Carbon Dynamics Modeling Using CO2FIX: A Bibliometric Analysis

“…Furthermore, the CO2FIX in forest carbon dynamics is also applied in forest types based on topography, geography, and climate variations. Topographically, the application of CO2FIX on a projection of forest carbon dynamics has been applied in lowlands 27,64) , submountain 65) , and mountainous areas [66][67][68] . Geographically and climatically, estimation of forest carbon dynamics using CO2FIX has been conducted in tropical lowland forests 55) , tropical dryland forests 69) , tropical humid forests 66) , tropical savannas 70) , temperate semi-arid forests 65,71,72) , temperate semi-humid forests 65,71,72) , temperate humid forests 73) , and boreal forests 74) .…”

“…Referring to Nabuurs and Schelhaas 75) , in the early stages of the development of CO2FIX, this software was tested in 16 types of forests across Europe. Nowadays, based on forest management purposes, CO2FIX is applicable in natural forests 55,66) , forest plantations 55,65,73) , conservation forests 76) , community forests 67) , afforestation and reforestation projects 55,77,78) , and agroforestry systems 71,72) .…”

Reservas de carbono en sistemas agroforestales con café (C. arabica L.) ante el cambio climático: caso México

“…En México se ha generado información sobre proyecciones de las reservas de C en reforestaciones de bosques templados del norte del país (Návar Cháidez et al, 2005), así como en plantaciones forestales del estado de Oaxaca (Álvarez & Rubio, 2016). Sin embargo, existe escasa información sobre proyecciones de las reservas de C y su comportamiento bajo escenarios de cambio climático en sistemas cafetaleros (Ruiz- García et al, 2020).…”