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Recent Rates of Forest Harvest and Conversion in North AmericaIncorporating ecological disturbance into biogeochemical models is critical for estimating current and future carbon stocks and fluxes. In particular, anthropogenic disturbances, such as forest conversion and wood harvest, strongly affect forest carbon dynamics within North America. This paper summarizes recent (2000.2008) rates of extraction, including both conversion and harvest, derived from national forest inventories for North America (the United States, Canada, and Mexico). During the 2000s, 6.1 million ha/yr were affected by harvest, another 1.0 million ha/yr were converted to other land uses through gross deforestation, and 0.4 million ha/yr were degraded. Thus about 1.0% of North America fs forests experienced some form of anthropogenic disturbance each year. However, due to harvest recovery, afforestation, and reforestation, the total forest area on the continent has been roughly stable during the decade. On average, about 110 m3 of roundwood volume was extracted per hectare harvested across the continent. Patterns of extraction vary among the three countries, with U.S. and Canadian activity dominated by partial and clear ]cut harvest, respectively, and activity in Mexico dominated by conversion (deforestation) for agriculture. Temporal trends in harvest and clearing may be affected by economic variables, technology, and forest policy decisions. While overall rates of extraction appear fairly stable in all three countries since the 1980s, harvest within the United States has shifted toward the southern United States and away from the Pacific Northwest.
Document ID
20120010374
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Masek, Jeffrey G.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Cohen, Warren B.
(Forest Service Corvallis, OR, United States)
Leckie, Donald
(Canadian Forestry Service Victoria, British Columbia, Canada)
Wulder, Michael A.
(Canadian Forestry Service Victoria, British Columbia, Canada)
Vargas, Rodrigo
(Centro de Investigacion Cientifica y de Educacion Superior de Ensenada Mexico)
de Jong, Ben
(El Colegio de la Frontera Sur Tabasco, Mexico)
Healey, Sean
(Forest Service Ogden, UT, United States)
Law, Beverly
(Oregon State Univ. Corvallis, OR, United States)
Birdsey, Richard
(Forest Service Newtown Square, PA, United States)
Houghton, R. A.
(Woods Hole Research Center Falmouth, MA, United States)
Mildrexler, David
(Montana Univ. Missoula, MT, United States)
Goward, Samuel
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Smith, W. Brad
(Forest Service Arlington, VA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 26, 2013
Publication Date
April 15, 2011
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 116
Subject Category
Geophysics
Report/Patent Number
GSFC.JA.00336.2012
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: DE-FG02-04ER63911
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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