Cost
Total €4544
Marginal €44
Shared €4500
Total cost/ha €0.13
These costs include:
Results
Table 1.4.4a: Litter Carbon in Post 1990 Forests
Remarks
When soil carbon is excluded, the litter carbon stock in the region accounted on average for 14% of the total carbon stock (i.e. of woody biomass, litter and understorey) across all the NFI plots in the pilot zone. The litter stock estimate was based on the known age of the stand and the IPCC default litter accumulation factor for coniferous forests (i.e. 0.25 tC/ha/yr).
Problems and improvements
The IPCC value applied is an average over 20 years of forest development. As most of the post 1990 forests considered in the region were yet to close canopy, it is thought that applying this value might overestimate the litter in young forests. However, without a detailed litter accumulation study in the forests of the pilot zone, it was considered the best available factor to apply.
Remarks and conclusions
The stock estimate of the litter is likely to be an overestimate. More work on litter accumulation rates in young forests would greatly improve our estimates of this pool.
A community initiative ERDF
INTERREG the IIIB Atlantic Area