GIS SUPPORT THE METHODS FOR ASSESSMENT OF CARBON SEQUESTRATION CAPACITY IN THE RUSSIAN FORESTS

DOI: 10.24057/2414-9179-2018-1-24-426-436

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About the Authors

Nataliya V. Malysheva

Russian Research Institute for Silviculture and Mechanization of Forestry (FBU VNIILM),
Institutskaya str., 15, 141200, Pushkino, Moscow region, Russia,
E-mail: nat-malysheva@yandex.ru

Tatiana А. Zolina

Russian Research Institute for Silviculture and Mechanization of Forestry (FBU VNIILM),
Institutskaya str., 15, 141200, Pushkino, Moscow region, Russia,
E-mail: tzolina@gmail.com

Boris N. Moiseev

LLC “Lesnoye Delo”,
Rubtsovskaya embankment, 3, 105082, Moscow, Russia,
E-mail:

Abstract

The Paris Agreement motivates the improvement of methods for accounting the CO2 absorbed by Russia’s forests and an objective assessment of CO2 greenhouse gas emissions in Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry sectors. GIS support to the methodology and experimental work on assessing carbon sequestration capacity in the Russian forests is discussed in the article. The methodology based on the State Forest Register data, reports on timber harvesting volumes, reports on forest areas damaged by unfavorable anthropogenic factors, statistical reports of the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat). The State Forest Register data are presented on forest management units (lesnichestvo) and regions. Due to ArcGIS software, the map with homogeneous forest site-specific condition zones compiled. The GIS tool helped to identify the strata with homogeneous site-specific and forest-growing conditions. Biomass expansion factor for converting the forest growing stock in the volume of aboveground tree biomass and some other parameters needed for the calculations of forest carbon sink linked to the strata. GIS overlay procedures allowed to bind the growing stock on forest areas with zoning, and then, using an expansion factor for converting the growing stocks in biomass and other parameters, to calculate the forest carbon stocks and annual forest carbon sink. Experimental calculations performed by State Forest Register data and federal statistics for 2015. Based on the results of calculations, the maps of carbon stocks in the Russian forests, carbon sequestration by Russian forests and carbon balance were produced. Our experimental assessments were compared with National inventory report of the Russian Federation on greenhouse gas emissions and removals (2017) and the seventh Russian national communication under the UNFCCC. Calculations performed according to the proposed methodology showed that the net carbon sink in the Russian forests was about 521.5 million tons С/year for 2015. According to our research, the underestimation of the carbon sink in Russian forests would be approximately 360 million tons C/year total.

Keywords

Russian forests, GIS, carbon sink, carbon balance, net ecosystem production (NEP), net biome production (NBP)

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For citation: Malysheva N.V., Zolina T.A., Moiseev B.N. GIS SUPPORT THE METHODS FOR ASSESSMENT OF CARBON SEQUESTRATION CAPACITY IN THE RUSSIAN FORESTS. Proceedings of the International conference “InterCarto. InterGIS”. 2018;24(1):426–436 DOI: 10.24057/2414-9179-2018-1-24-426-436 (in Russian)