An Updated Meta-Analysis of Thinning and Clearcutting Impacts on Carbon Storage in North American Forests

Abstract

Working forests serve an important role in providing timber products. At the same time, these forests are expected to contribute to mitigating climate change through carbon sequestration (removing carbon from the atmosphere) and by replacing high-emission fuel products, while providing wildlife habitat and other ecosystem services. Understanding the trade-off between increasing timber harvest activities and carbon stock is pivotal for sustainable forest management. Previous meta-analyses have produced mixed results regarding timber harvest effects on soil carbon. With new studies being published, the authors performed an updated meta-analysis to synthesize the effects of forest thinning and clearcutting on three carbon pools—plants and roots, organic layer, and mineral soil—as well as examine how these effects interact with thinning intensity and time since harvest.