SILVICULTURAL OPTIONS TO CONSERVE AND SEQUESTER CARBON IN FOREST SYSTEMS - PRELIMINARY ECONOMIC-ASSESSMENT

Forest establishment and management can be employed to conserve and se quester carbon (C) in the terrestrial biosphere. a 40 nation assessmen t of silvicultural practices and techniques revealed that forest drain age, thinning, fertilization, weeding and modified harvesting can be e mployed to sequester or conserve 1-64 Mg C ha(-1). Sequestration or co nservation of C in forest systems due to the application of silvicultu ral practices can be achieved for $2-56 Mg C. A small proportion of th e world's forests are actually managed, and, theoretically, silvicultu ral practices could conserve or sequester 0.1-0.3 Pg C annually. Silvi cultural practices can contribute to future C sequestration of forests , but the biologic and economic opportunities and constraints merit ca reful consideration before large-scale implementation in the field.