Abstract
Previous research has identified the importance of the role of land cover in the global carbon cycle. In particular, forests have been identified as a significant carbon sink that can mitigate the rate of global climate change. Policy makers are faced with complex and difficult challenges in getting timely and useful information in monitoring global forest resources. Recent advances in the tools and methods of forest carbon accounting have produced new, innovative approaches to forest-based carbon inventories. But it is important as new tools are developed that scientists understand the needs of policy makers and that policy makers understand the capabilities and limitations of forest inventory methods. This paper explores four different policy applications that rely, or could benefit from, national carbon inventories. The goal is to help build a bridge between the communities of climate policy makers and scientists specialized in forest carbon inventories. To this end, we pursue three specific objectives: First we provide an overview for policy makers about approaches to forest carbon inventories, paying particular attention to the contributions of remote sensing technologies. Second, we outline the issues particularly relevant to forest inventory scientists who are interested in responding to public policy needs. We then discuss the tradeoffs between information cost, accuracy, precision, transparency and timeliness that need to be balanced in long-term monitoring of forest carbon. Finally, the article concludes with a series of observations and recommendations for the implementation of forest carbon inventories as increasingly central components of global climate change policy.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Achard F, Eva H, Mayaux P (2001) Tropical forest mapping from coarse spatial resolution satellite data: production and accuracy assessment issues. Int J Remote Sens 22:2741–2762
Andersson K, Richards K (2001) Implementing an international carbon sequestration program: can the leaky sink be fixed? Clim Policy 1(2):173–188
Asner GP, Townsend AR, Bustamante MMC, Nardoto GB, Olander LP (2004) Pasture degradation in the central Amazon: linking changes in carbon and nutrient cycling with remote sensing. Glob Chang Biol 10:844–862
Austin JM, Mackey BG, Van Niel KP (2003) Estimating forest biomass using satellite radar: an exploratory study in temperate Australian eucalyptus forest. For Ecol Manag 176(2003):575–583
Balmann A (1999) Path dependence and the structural development of family farm dominated regions. In: IX European congress of agricultural economists, organized session papers, Warsaw (Poland), 24–28 August 1999, pp 263–284
Balzter H, Shvidenko A (2000) Map accuracy report—SIBERIA forest cover map, SIBERIA Working note 58. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria
Braatz S (2002) National reporting to forest-related international instruments: mandates, mechanisms, overlaps and potential synergies. Unasylva 53(3):65–67
Braatz BV, Doorn M (Eds) (2005) Managing the national greenhouse gas inventory process. New York, NY: United Nations Development Programme and the Global Environmental Facility
Brown S (1999) Opportunities for mitigating carbon emissions through forestry activities: Paper prepared for the World Bank. Winrock International Institute for Agricultural Development, Arlington, Virgina
Brown S (2002) Measuring carbon in forests: current status and future challenges. Environ Pollut 116(3):363–372
Brown S, Gaston G (1995) Use of forest inventories and geographic information systems to estimate biomass density of tropical forests: application to tropical Africa. Environ Monit Assess 38:157–168
Carmel Y, Dean DJ, Flather CH (2001) Combining location and classification error sources for estimating multi-temporal database accuracy. Photogramm Eng Remote Sensing 67(7):865–872
CIESIN (Center for International Earth Science Information Network) (n.d.) The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer, CIESIN Thematic Guides, http://www.ciesin.org/TG/PI/POLICY/montpro.html
Cohen WB, Justice CO (1999) Validating MODIS terrestrial ecology products: linking in situ and satellite measurements. Remote Sens Environ 70(1):1–3
Di Gregorio A, Jansen LJM (2000) Land Cover Classification System (LCCS): classification, concepts and user manual. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome
Dilling L (2007) Towards science in support of decision making: characterizing the supply of carbon cycle science. Environ Sci Policy 10:48–61
Dyson FJ (1977) Can we control carbon dioxide in the atmosphere? Energy 2:287–291
Esty D, Ivanova M (2004) Globalization and environmental protection: a global governance perspective. Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy Working Paper No. 0402, Yale University, New Haven, CT
FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) (2005) The state of the world’s forests. FAO, Rome
Foody GM (2003) Remote sensing of tropical forest environments: towards the monitoring of environmental resources for sustainable development. Int J Remote Sens 24(20):4035–4046
Foody GM, Boyd DS, Cutler MEJ (2003) Predictive relations of tropical forest biomass from Landsat TM data and their transferability between regions. Remote Sens Environ 85(4):463–474
Forner C (2002) Forest-related reporting in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Unasylva 53(3):75
Gamon JA, Huemmrich KF, Peddle DR, Chen J, Fuentes D, Hall FG, Kimball JS, Goetz S, Gu J, McDonald KC, Miller JR, Moghaddam M, Rahman AF, Roujean J-L, Smith EA, Walthall CL, Zarco-Tejada P, Hu B, Fernandes R, Cihlar J (2004) Remote sensing in BOREAS: lessons learned. Remote Sens Environ 89(2):139–162
Gibbs HK, Herold M (2007) Tropical deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. Environ Res Lett 2(045021):1–2
Gibbs HK, Brown S, Niles JO, Foley JA (2007) Monitoring and estimating tropical forest carbon stocks: making REDD a reality. Environ Res Lett 2:045023 (October–December)
Gonzalez-Alonso F, Cuevas JM, Calle A, Casanova JL, Romo A (2004) Spanish vegetation monitoring during the period 1987–2001 using NOAA-AVHRR images. Int J Remote Sens 25(1):3–6
Government of Australia (2000) Land clearing: a social history. National Carbon Accounting System Technical Report No. 4. Greenhouse Office, Canberra, Australia
Government of Cameroon (2005) Results of data analysis for the National Forest Assessment in Cameroon: final analysis. Unpublished Draft Document, Ministry of Agriculture, Yaounde
Government of Canada (1995) Canada’s national report on climate change. Actions to meet commitments under the UNFCCC. Environment Canada, Ottawa
Government of Guatemala (2004) Evaluación de Los Recursos Forestales. Inventario Forestal Nacional 2002–03. Instituto Nacional de Bosques (INAB), Guatemala City
Government of Lebanon (2005) National forest assessment program: Lebanon data analysis report. Ministry of Agriculture, Beirut
Government of the Philippines (2005) National forest and tree resources assessment 2003–2005. Forest Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Quezon City, Philippines
Gullison RE, Frumhoff PC, Canadell JG, Field CB, Nepstad DC, Hayhoe K, Avissar R, Curran LM, Friedlingstein P, Jones CD, Nobre C (2007) Tropical forests and climate policy. Science 316:985–986
Heath LS, Smith JE (2000) An assessment of uncertainty in forest carbon budget projections. Environ Sci Policy 3(2–3):73–82
Houghton RA, Hackler JL (1999) Emissions of carbon from forestry and land-use change in tropical Asia. Glob Chang Biol 5(4):481–492
Huete A, Didan K, Miura T, Rodriguez EP, Gao X, Ferreira LG (2002) Overview of the radiometric and biophysical performance of the MODIS vegetation indices. Remote Sens Environ 83(1–2):195–213
IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) (2002) Climate change 2001: third assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) (2004) Good practice guidance for land use, land-use change, and forestry, IPCC. Geneva, Switzerland
Jonas M, Nilsson S, Shvidenko A, Stolbovoi V, Gluck M, Obersteiner M, Oskog A (1999) Full carbon accounting and the Kyoto protocol: a systems-analytical view. Interim Report IR-99-025. International Institute for Applied Sciences (IASA), Laxenburg, Austria
Jones S, Lowell K, Woodgate P, Buxton L, Mager A, Liebchen S (2004) Update on the National Carbon Accounting System Continuous Improvement and Verification Methodology. National Carbon Accounting System Technical Report no. 46. Greenhouse Office, Canberra, Australia
Kauppi P, Sedjo R (2001) Technological and economic potential of options to enhance, maintain, and manage biological carbon reservoirs and geo-engineering. In: Metz B, Davidson O, Swart R, Pan J (eds) Climate change 2001: mitigation. Contribution of working group III to the third assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK
Keller M, Palace M, Hurtt G (2001) Biomass estimation in the Tapajos National Forest, Brazil: examination of sampling and allometric uncertainties. Forest Ecol Manag 154:371–82
Kleinn C (2002) New technologies and methodologies for national forest inventories. Unasylva 53(3):10–15
KP-UNFCCC (Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change) (1997) Conference of the Parties-3, Kyoto, Japan
Lambin EF (1999) Monitoring forest degradation in tropical regions by remote sensing: some methodological issues. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 8(3/4):191–198
Lefsky MA, Cohen WB, Harding DJ, Parker GG, Acker SA, Gower ST (2002) Lidar remote sensing of above-ground biomass in three biomes. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 11(5):393–399
Lowell K, Woodgate P, Jones S, Richards G (2003) Continuous improvement of the National Carbon Accounting System Land Cover Change Mapping. National Carbon Accounting System Technical report no. 39. Canberra, Australia: Greenhouse Office
Lu D, Mausel P, Brondízio E, Moran E (2004) Change detection techniques. Int J Remote Sens 25(12):2365–2401
Lunetta RS, Lyon JG, Guindon B, Elvidge CD (1998) North American landscape characterization dataset development and data fusion issues. Photogramm Eng Remote Sensing 64(8):821–829
McMichael AJ (1993) Planetary overload. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
McNie EC (2006) Reconciling the supply of scientific information with user demands: an analysis of the problem and review of the literature. Environmental Science and Policy 10:17–38
Mollicone D, Freibauer A, Schulze ED, Braatz S, Grassi Z, Federici S (2007) Elements for the expected mechanisms on ‘reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation, REDD’ under UNFCCC. Environ Res Lett 2:045024 (7pp)
Moser SC, Dilling L (eds) (2007) Creating a climate for change: communicating climate change and facilitating social change. Cambridge University Press, New York, NY
Myneni RB, Dong J, Tucker CJ, Kaufmann RK, Kauppi PE, Liski J, Zhou L, Alexeyev V, Hughes MK (2001) A large carbon sink in the woody Biomass of Northern forests. PNAS 98(26):14784–14789
Nabuurs GJ, Masera O, Andrasko K, Benitez-Ponce P, Boer R, Dutschke M, Elsiddig E, Ford-Robertson J, Frumhoff P, Karjalainen T, Krankina O, Kurz WA, Matsumoto M, Oyhantcabal W, Ravindranath NH, Sanz Sanchez MJ, Zhang X (2007) Forestry. In: Metz B, Davidson OR, Bosch PR, Dave R, Meyer LA (eds) Climate change 2007: mitigation. Contribution of Working Group III to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK
Nilsson S, Shvidenko A, Stolbovoi V, Gluck M, Jonas M, Obersteiner M (2000) Full carbon account for Russia. Interim Report IR-00-021, International Institute for Applied Sciences (IASA), Laxenburg, Austria
Noordwijk Van M, Swallow B, Verchot L (2007) Avoided deforestation with sustainable benefits: a simple way to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation and degradation. Nairobi, Kenya: World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)
Pearson T, Walker S, Brown S (2005) Sourcebook for land use, land-use change and forestry projects. Winrock International and the BioCarbon Fund of the World Bank
Peskett L, Brown D, Luttrell C (2006) Can payments for avoided deforestation to tackle climate change also benefit the poor? Avoided deforestation could benefit the environment and forest dependent populations. Overseas Development Institute Forestry Briefing 12
Phillips DL, Brown SL, Schroeder PE, Birdsey RA (2000) Toward error analysis of large-scale forest carbon budgets. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 9(4):305–313
Potter C, Klooster S, Myneni R, Genovese V, Tan P-N, Kumar V (2003) Continental-scale comparisons of terrestrial carbon sinks estimated from satellite data and ecosystem modeling 1982–1998. Glob Planet Change 39(3–4):201–213
Potter C, Klooster S, Steinbach M, Tan P-N, Kumar V, Shekhar S, de Carvalho CR (2004) Understanding global teleconnections of climate to regional model estimates of Amazon ecosystem carbon fluxes. Glob Chang Biol 10(5):693–703
Powell RL, Matzke N, de Souza C Jr, Clark M, Numata I, Hess LL, Roberts DA (2004) Sources of error in accuracy assessment of thematic land-cover maps in the Brazilian Amazon. Remote Sens Environ 90(2):221–234
Richards KR, Andersson KP (2001) The leaky sink: persistent obstacles to a forest carbon sequestration program based on individual projects. Clim Policy 1:41–54
Riley R, Phillips H, Schuft M, Garcia M (1997) Resolution and error in measuring land-cover change: effects on estimating net carbon release from Mexican terrestrial ecosystems. Int J Remote Sens 18(1):121–137
Rogan J, Chen DM (2004) Remote sensing technology for mapping and monitoring land-cover and land-use change. Prog Plann 61:301–325
Rokityanskiy D, Benítez PC, Kraxner F, McCallum I, Obersteiner M, Rametsteiner E, Yamagata Y (2007) Geographically explicit global modeling of land-use change, carbon sequestration, and biomass supply. Technol Forecast Soc Change 74:1057–1082
Rosenqvist A, Milne A, Lucas R, Imhoff M, Dobson C (2003) A review of remote sensing technology in support of the Kyoto Protocol. Environ Sci Policy 6(5):441–455
Running SW, Baldocchi DD, Turner DP, Gower ST, Bakwin PS, Hibbard KA (1999) A global terrestrial monitoring network integrating tower fluxes, flask sampling, ecosystem modeling and EOS satellite data. Remote Sens Environ 70(1):108–127
Santilli M, Moutinho P, Schwartzman S, Nepstad D, Curran L, Nobre C (2005) Tropical deforestation and the Kyoto protocol. Clim Change 71(3):267–276
Schlamadinger B, Ciccarese L, Dutschke M, Fearnside PM, Brown S, Mudiyarso D (2005) Should we include avoidance of deforestation in the international response to climate change? In: Mudiyarso D, Herawati H (eds) Carbon forestry: who will benefit? Proceedings of Workshop on Carbon Sequestration and Sustainable Livelihoods, held in Bogor on 16–17 February 2005. Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor, Indonesia, pp 26–41
Shi WZ, Ehlers M (1996) Determining uncertainties and their propagation in dynamic change detection based on classified remotely-sensed images. Int J Remote Sens 17(14):2729–2741
Skole DL, Tucker C (1993) Tropical deforestation and habitat fragmentation in the Amazon: satellite data from 1978 to 1988. Science 260(5116):1905–1910
Smith JE, Heath LS (2001) Identifying influences on model uncertainty: an application using a forest carbon budget model. Environ Manag 27(2):253–267
Sohngen B, Andrasko K, Gytarsky M, Korovin G, Laestadius L, Murray B, Utkin A, Zamolodchikov D (2003) Stocks and flows: carbon inventory and mitigation potential of the Russian forest and land base. World Resources Institute, Washington, DC
Solomon S, Qin D, Manning M, Chen Z, Marquis M, Averyt KB, Tignor M, Miller HL (eds) (2007) Climate change 2007: The physical science basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK
Space Imaging (2008) Company web site: http://www.geoeye.com/
Specter C (1988) Managing remote sensing technology transfer to developing countries: a survey of experts in the field. Photogrammetria 43(1):25–36
Stavins R, Richards K (2005) The cost of U.S. forest-based carbon sequestration. Report for the Pew center on climate change, Arlington Virginia
Stein P (2001) Biomes of the future. The Rosen Publishing Group, New York
The Social Learning Group (2001) Learning to manage global environmental risks, vol 1 and 2. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
Tomppo E (2000) National forest inventory of Finland and its role estimating the carbon balance of forests. Biotechnol Agron Soc Environ 4(4):281–284
Tomppo E, Czaplewski RL (2002) Potential for a remote-sensing-aided forest resource survey for the whole globe. Unasylva 53(3):16–18
Tomppo E, Henttonen H (1996) Suomen metsävarat 1989–1994 ja niiden muutokset vuodesta 1951 lähtien (Finnish forest resources and their changes since 1951) (in Finnish), Statistical Bulletin 354. Finnish Forest Research Institute, Helsinki
Tucker CJ, Townshend JRG (2000) Strategies for monitoring tropical deforestation using satellite data. Int J Remote Sens 21(6/7):1461–1471
Turner DP, Cohen WB, Kennedy RE, Fassnacht KS, Briggs JM (1999) Relationships between leaf area index and Landsat TM spectral vegetation indices across three temperate zone sites. Remote Sens Environ 70(1):52–68
Turner DP, Ritts WD, Cohen WB, Gower ST, Zhao M, Running SW, Wofsy SC, Urbanski S, Dunn A, Munger JW (2003) Scaling gross primary production (GPP) over boreal and deciduous forest landscapes in support of MODIS GPP product validation. Remote Sens Environ 88(3):256–270
UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change) (1992) United Nations, New York
UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change) (2004) Guidelines for the preparation of national communications, FCCC/SBSTA/2004/8
UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change) (2008) Report of the Conference of the Parties on its thirteenth session, held in Bali from 3 to 15 December 2007, Decision 2. FCCC/CP/2007/6/Add.1
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) (2007) Forest inventory & analysis program history. FIA fact sheet series. USDA, Washington, DC
Veroustraete F, Sabbe H, Rasse DP, Bertels L (2004) Carbon mass fluxes of forests in Belgium determined with low resolution optical sensors. Int J Remote Sens 25(4):769–792
Vieira ICG, Almeida AS, de Davidson EA, Stone TA, de Carvalho CJR, Guerrero JB (2003) Classifying successional forests using Landsat spectral properties and ecological characteristics in eastern Amazônia. Remote Sens Environ 87(4):470–481
Watson RT, Zinyowera MC, Moss RH (eds) (1995) Impacts, adaptations and mitigation of climate change: scientific-technical analyses contribution of Working Group II to the second assessment of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK
Watson RT, Noble IR, Bolin B, Ravindranath NH, Verardo DJ, Dokken DJ (eds) (2001) Land use, land-use change, and forestry: a special report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, NY
Westlake DF (1966) The biomass and productivity of glyceria maxima: I. Seasonal changes in biomass. J Ecol 54:745–53
Xiao X, Zhang Q, Braswell B, Urbanski S, Boles S, Wofsy S, Moore B III, Ojima D (2004) Modeling gross primary production of temperate deciduous broadleaf forest using satellite images and climate data. Remote Sens Environ 91(2):256–270
Zhan X, Sohlberg RA, Townshend JRG, DiMiceli C, Carroll ML, Eastman JC, Hansen MC, DeFries RS (2002) Detection of land cover changes using MODIS 250 m data. Remote Sens Environ 83(3):336–350
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Andersson, K., Evans, T.P. & Richards, K.R. National forest carbon inventories: policy needs and assessment capacity. Climatic Change 93, 69–101 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-008-9526-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-008-9526-6