Forest Soil C Sink Nordic Network
Forests cover 60 % of the land area in the five Nordic countries, and forestry is one of the most important primary industries in the Nordic region.
These forests store massive amounts of carbon in soil organic matter and it is important to protect and possibly enhance this storage through forest management.
The aim of the network is to increase the understanding of factors effecting accumulation or loss of the soil organic matter. They particularly look at the potential impacts on soil carbon sequestration of:
- Increased bioenergy harvest from forests – this could lead to soil carbon loss
- Nitrogen deposition – this seems to increase carbon accumulation
- Afforestation or natural re-growth of forests after cease of agriculture use – where soil carbon content might increase
- Reconstruction of forest drainage infrastructure
The results will be used to advice the forestry sector on best management practices and strategies for protecting and increasing the carbon sink of soils. The results will also be relevant for national reporting under the UN Climate Change Convention and the Kyoto protocol.