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Forest biomass carbon accumulation in Korea from1954 to 2007Xiaodong Li a , Myong Jong Yi a , Yowhan Son b , Guangze Jin c & Sang Sub Han aa College of Forest and Environmental Sciences , Kangwon National University ,Chuncheon, 200-701, South Koreab Division of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering , Korea University ,Seoul, 136-701, South Koreac School of Forestry Northeast Forestry University , Harbin, 150040, ChinaPublished online: 02 Nov 2010.

To cite this article: Xiaodong Li , Myong Jong Yi , Yowhan Son , Guangze Jin & Sang Sub Han (2010) Forest biomasscarbon accumulation in Korea from 1954 to 2007, Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research, 25:6, 554-563, DOI:10.1080/02827581.2010.524892

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Forest biomass carbon accumulation in Korea from 1954 to 2007

XIAODONG LI1, MYONG JONG YI1, YOWHAN SON2, GUANGZE JIN3

& SANG SUB HAN1

1College of Forest and Environmental Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, South Korea, 2Division

of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, South Korea, and 3School of

Forestry Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China

AbstractEstimating the level of forest biomass accumulation in Korea is a challenging task because of historical reasons and the laterreforestation implemented at the national level. Nevertheless, systematic national forest inventories and direct fieldmeasurements make it possible to estimate the carbon (C) sinks as well as their distribution. Simple linear relationshipsbetween the stand biomass and stand volume were developed for each forest type (coniferous, deciduous and mixed forests)in Korea based on direct field measurements. These relationships were used to estimate the changes in C accumulation ofthe above-ground and total biomass from 1954 to 2007 based on the national forest inventories. The mean C density and Cstock of the above-ground biomass for all forest types increased from 3.49 Mg C ha�1 and 16.71 Tg C in 1954 to 31.46 MgC ha�1 and 196.45 Tg C in 2007, respectively, and the total biomass for all forest types increased from 4.29 Mg C ha�1

and 20.57 Tg C in 1954 to 38.58 Mg C ha�1 and 239.85 Tg C in 2007, respectively. Such a large C uptake in Korea is duemainly to the successfully implemented reforestation and subsequent forest management practices.

Keywords: Carbon accumulation, carbon sequestration rate, forest biomass, Korean forest type, reforestation.

Introduction

Recent studies have shown that the mid- and high-

latitude forest ecosystems in the northern hemi-

sphere provide a significant sink for atmospheric

carbon dioxide (CO2) (e.g. Fang et al., 2001, 2005;

Choi et al., 2002; Janssens et al., 2003; Nabuurs

et al., 2003). However, the size, spatial distribution

and causes of the sink are unclear, partly owing to

uncertainties in estimating the forest biomass carbon

(C) and its increase (e.g. Goodale et al., 2002;

Houghton, 2003, 2005, 2007; Liski et al., 2003;

Fang et al., 2006). To reduce the uncertainty in

estimating C sinks, regional and national forest

inventories, which are based on well-designed and

statistically available long-term observations com-

piled by many countries, are used as more suitable

databases for identifying the magnitude and location

of C sinks and sources.

The forest landscape in the Republic of Korea

(henceforth referred to as Korea) underwent massive

changes during the first half of the twentieth century

for historical reasons. However, the Korean govern-

ment has systematically implemented three 10-year

plantation programmes since 1973 to recover and

restore its once-rich forests. This has made estimat-

ing the forest biomass C accumulation a challenging

task. However, systematic forest surveys at approxi-

mately 5�10-year intervals have been carried out

across the country. Moreover, many studies on C

sinks through direct field measurement have also

been conducted, with a large accumulation of field

survey data. These direct field measurements

coupled with a periodic forest inventory provide

complementary data sources for making precise

estimates of the changes in forest biomass C

accumulation at the Korean national level.

The aims of this study were: (1) to estimate the

changes in Korean forest biomass C accumulation

over the past five decades by applying biomass�volume relationships to national inventory data;

Correspondence: M. J. Yi, College of Forest and Environmental Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, South Korea.

E-mail: mjyi@kangwon.ac.kr

Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research, 2010; 25: 554�563

(Received 14 June 2010; accepted 15 September 2010)

ISSN 0282-7581 print/ISSN 1651-1891 online # 2010 Taylor & Francis

DOI: 10.1080/02827581.2010.524892

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and (2) to identify the size and spatiotemporal

distribution of Korean forest C sinks, and compare

them with those of other major northern countries.

Materials and methods

Forest inventories only report the commercial wood

volumes and do not provide detailed information on

forest biomass. To use timber data to estimate the

total above-ground forest biomass, the biomass

conversion and expansion factor (BCEF) given by

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC,

2006), which is defined as the ratio of above-ground

biomass to stand volume (Mg m�3), could be used to

convert the timber volume to biomass and account

for the non-commercial components such as

branches, twigs and leaves. The below-ground bio-

mass was estimated by applying the ratio of root to

shoot (R) to Korean forests. The BCEF and R values

for different forest types (coniferous, deciduous and

mixed forests) must be determined using a direct

field measurement data set. Therefore, two data sets

were used in this study, namely direct field measure-

ments and forest inventories.

Forest inventory data set

The forest inventory data used in this study were

compiled from the Agriculture and Forestry Statis-

tical Yearbooks for 1954, 1959, 1971, 1974, 1982,

1992, 2000 and 2007 (Korean Ministry of Agricul-

ture and Forestry, 1955, 1960, 1972, 1975, 1983,

1993, 2001, 2008). Except for 1947 and 1959, the

data was obtained from 3500 permanent plots that

are approximately evenly distributed throughout the

entire country. The area of each plot is 0.05 ha

(Korea Forest Service, 2000a).

Forest is defined as land with 30% or more crown

cover in government-, community- and privately

owned forests. Coniferous forest is referred to as

land where the crown cover and stem numbers of

coniferous tree species comprise more than 75% of

the total crown cover and stem numbers. Deciduous

forest is defined as land where the crown cover and

stem numbers of deciduous tree species comprise

more than 75% of the total crown cover and stem

numbers. Mixed forest is considered land where the

crown cover and stem numbers for coniferous and

deciduous tree species contain more than 25% but

less than 75% of total crown cover and stem

numbers, respectively (Korea Forest Service,

2000b).

The inventory data provide detailed information

on the age, site quality, total area and total stem

volume for each forest type at an administrative unit

level. Within each administrative unit, each forest

type was stratified into three site classes (low,

medium and high quality). Each site was subdivided

into five age classes. The total area and volume of

each forest type are reported as the age classes within

each site class for each administrative unit (Korea

Forest Service, 2008). In total, Korea has 16

administrative units: seven metropolitan cities

(Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Gwanju, Daejeon

and Ulsan) and nine provinces (Gyeonggi, Gang-

won, Chungbuk, Chungnam, Jeollabuk, Jeollanam,

Gyeongbuk, Gyeongnam and Jejudo). To make a

convenient estimation, the metropolitan city was

incorporated into the corresponding province in

which the city was located or was nearest to.

For 1954 and 1959, the inventory data only

reported the total area and timber volume for con-

iferous and deciduous forests at the national level but

did not include data for mixed forests. In addition, the

inventory data only reported the total area and timber

volume of coniferous and deciduous forests for 1959

and did not identify the forest types for 1954 at the

provincial level. The error in the total timber volume

at the provincial and national level was B5%.

Direct field measurement data set

This study reviewed published papers on forest

biomass studies in Korea according to the forest

type, and recorded the available information on the

stand type, species composition, stand density, stand

age, stem volume, above-ground biomass (such as

branches, leaves, twigs and saplings) and below-

ground biomass (root). In total, 49 sets of data were

available for statistical analysis.

The field measurement data indicated that the

major dominant species for the coniferous forests are

Pinus densiflora Sieb. et Zucc., P. rigida Mill. and

P. koraiensis Sieb. et Zucc., whereas the major

dominant species for deciduous forests are Quercus

species, particularly Q. mongolica Fisch., Q. acutis-

sima Carruth., Q. variabilis Bl., Q. serrata Thunb.

and Q. dentata Thunb. (Korea Forest Service,

2008). This study assumed that the major Pinus

species represents all coniferous trees, Quercus spe-

cies represents all deciduous trees, and Pinus and

Quercus species are representative of mixed forests

because they account for more than two-thirds of all

coniferous and deciduous trees in Korea (Choi et al.,

2002; Tak et al., 2007).

It should be noted that not all original studies

reported the stand volume. For these studies, the

mean diameter at breast height (dbh), mean tree height

and stand density were used to estimate the stand

volume by multiplying the mean stem volume by the

stand density. The stem volume was obtained from a

volume table (Korea Forest Service, 2009).

Forest biomass carbon in Korea 555

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Estimation of forest biomass

Recent studies suggest that BCEF is not constant

but varies with the national and regional environ-

ment, forest type, forest age, specific species, site

class, stand density, and other biotic and abiotic

stand factors (Schroeder et al., 1997; Brown &

Schroeder, 1999; Fang et al., 1998, 2001, 2005).

A simple linear relationship between stand biomass

and stand volume was found for Chinese forest types

(Fang et al., 1998). In this study, a similar relation-

ship (Table I) was also found between stand above-

ground biomass and stand volume (eq. 1) for all

forest types in Korea based on the field measurement

data set.

y�av�b; (1)

where y and v are the stand biomass (Mg ha�1) and

stand volume (m3 ha�1), and a and b are constants

for a specific forest type. This strong relationship

(Figure 1) between stand above-ground biomass and

stand volume shows that it is possible to use the

stand volume to estimate the stand above-ground

biomass for all forest types in Korea. Based on

eq. (1) and the forest inventory data set, the total

forest above-ground biomass (Y) was calculated for

each forest type using eq. (2) (Fang et al., 1998,

2001):

Y �X9

e�1

X3

f�1

X5

g�1

Aefg(avefg�b); (2)

where vefg and Aefg are the mean stand volume and

total area for each age class (g � 1, 2, 3, 4, 5), site

class (f � 1, 2, 3) and province (e � 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,

7, 8, 9), and a and b are defined in eq. (1). The total

area-weighted mean biomass density (D) of each

forest type was then calculated using eq. (3):

D�1

A

X9

e�1

X3

f�1

X5

g�1

(1�R)Aefg(avefg�b); (3)

where A is the total area of each forest type, R is the

ratio of root to shoot for each forest type, and the

other elements are as defined in eqs (1) and (2).

Estimation of biomass for root and bamboo forest

In practice, direct field measurements of the root

biomass are difficult and time consuming, and the

root biomass is usually estimated from the above-

ground biomass using R values or an allometric

relationship between the above-ground biomass and

root biomass (Kurz et al., 1996; Cairns et al., 1997;

Fang et al., 2005). In this paper, no allometric

relationship could be found between the above-

ground and root biomass, and calculated R values

(Table I) for each forest type were based on the

collected field measurement data set.

Biomass data have been reported for bamboo

forests in Korea. For this reason, the mean biomass

density compiled from field measurements was used

to estimate the total biomass of bamboo forests. The

mean biomass density (including culms, branches,

leaves, rhizomes and roots) for the different bamboo

species [Phyllostachys pubescens Mazel, Ph. bambu-

soides Sieb. et Zucc. and Ph. nigra var. henonis (Bean)

Stapf] ranged from 36.8 to 103.6 Mg ha�1 (Park &

Ryu, 1996; Hwang et al., 2005), with a mean

biomass density of 79.4 Mg ha�1. The biomass of

bamboo forests in each province was calculated by

multiplying the mean biomass density by the total

area in that province.

Table I. Allometric parameters and R values for each forest type in Korea based on field measurements.

Parameters a

Forest type a b n r2 Mean R b

Coniferous forests 0.483 17.869 23 0.96 0.253 (n � 23, SD � 0.076)

Deciduous forests 1.035 �14.309 26 0.75 0.189 (n � 26, SD � 0.032)

Mixed forests 0.482 50.147 49 0.64 0.229 (n � 49, SD � 0.070)

Note: n � data numbers; SD � standard deviation.a Parameters in allometric relationships between stand above-ground biomass and stand volume for each forest type. b R � ratio of root to

shoot.

Figure 1. Linear relationship between stand above-ground bio-

mass (Yab, Mg ha�1) and stand volume (Vs, m3 ha�1) for Korean

coniferous forests (Pinus densiflora, Pinus rigida and Pinus kor-

aiensis) based on field measurements sampled from different

regions.

556 X. Li et al.

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Results

The above-ground and total biomass C stocks were

estimated for each forest type using eq. (2) and the

parameters and R values listed in Table I. Summing

these provincial C stocks according to the forest

type, the national C stocks were obtained for all

forest types, coniferous forests, deciduous forests

and mixed forests. The above-ground and total

forest biomass C densities were calculated using

eq. (3) for each forest type. For 1954 and 1959, the

inventories did not provide information on the

mixed forest timber volume. Hence, the above-

ground and total C stocks were estimated only for

coniferous forests and deciduous forests using

eq. (2) and the parameters and R values listed in

Table I.

Tables II and III show the national above-ground

and total biomass C stocks. Before the 1970s, there

were significant fluctuations in forest area, with

mean C densities of 4.42 Mg ha�1 and

5.41 Mg ha�1 in the above-ground and total bio-

mass for all forest types, whereas the above-ground

and total biomass C stocks increased gradually from

16.71 Tg C and 20.57 Tg C in 1954 to 23.98 Tg C

and 29.43 Tg C in 1971. These low C densities and

C stocks were due mainly to changes in land use,

population growth and economic recovery. The

massive forest exploitation during the period 1919�1945, the great destruction that occurred during the

Korean War (1950�1953), and the rapidly increasing

population and economic development have

increased pressure on forest resources. For this

reason, the Korean government has implemented

three 10-year reforestation projects since 1973 to

protect and restore its forest resources. Conse-

quently, the C densities and C stocks have increased

significantly. Despite the slight increase in total

forest area from approximately 5.9 million ha to

6.2 million ha, the above-ground and total mean

forest biomass C density (Mg ha�1) has increased

significantly. The above-ground and total mean

biomass C density increased from 5.70 Mg ha�1

and 6.95 Mg ha�1 in 1974 to 31.64 Mg ha�1 and

38.58 Mg ha�1 in 2007, respectively. Because of

such a large increase in the C density, the above-

ground and total biomass C stocks of all forest types

increased significantly during the past three decades.

For example, the above-ground biomass C stocks of

all forest types increased from 33.76 Tg C in 1974 to

196.45 Tg C in 2007, of which 56.49 Tg C,

68.83 Tg C and 37.37 Tg C was for coniferous,

deciduous and mixed forests, respectively.

The changes in the biomass C stocks and C

density on a spatiotemporal scale indicated differ-

ences for different provinces in Korea (Figure 2).

Table

II.

Fore

stare

aan

dabove

-gro

un

dbio

mass

carb

on

(C)

den

sity

an

dC

stock

sin

each

Kore

an

fore

stty

pe

for

dif

fere

nt

per

iod

s.a

Fore

stare

a(h

a)

Ab

ove-

gro

un

dC

Cd

ensi

ty(M

gC

ha�

1)

Cst

ock

(Tg

C)

Per

iod

Tota

lC

on

ifer

ou

sD

ecid

uou

sM

ixed

Mea

nC

on

ifer

ou

sD

ecid

uou

sM

ixed

All

Con

ifer

ou

sD

ecid

uou

sM

ixed

1954

4,7

90,2

85

2,6

59,8

38

1,0

11,9

29

1,1

18,5

18

3.4

93.3

27.7

9�

16.7

18.8

37.8

8�

1955�1

959

3,7

70,3

06

2,0

06,1

20

908,8

61

855,3

25

5.6

14.8

612.5

4�

21.1

49.7

411.4

�1960�1

971

5,7

79,0

62

3,3

33,2

18

1,2

19,0

74

1,2

26,7

70

4.1

52.3

910.6

02.5

123.9

87.9

812.9

23.0

8

1972�1

974

5,9

25,7

82

3,2

11,2

26

1,0

38,0

30

1,6

76,5

26

5.7

02.9

516.3

24.3

933.7

69.4

616.9

47.3

6

1975�1

982

6,2

78,4

57

3,2

59,9

28

1,1

58,4

54

1,8

60,0

75

8.0

05.3

019.6

85.4

650.2

417.2

822.8

010.1

6

1983�1

992

6,2

89,3

92

2,8

93,6

24

1,6

73,2

75

1,7

22,4

93

13.8

410.2

523.8

510.1

487.0

329.6

639.9

117.4

6

1993�2

000

6,2

62,2

18

2,7

11,4

21

1,6

65,5

50

1,8

85,2

47

20.5

615.5

834.2

215.6

6128.7

742.2

557.0

029.5

2

2001�2

007

6,2

09,8

39

2,6

86,6

49

1,6

61,5

35

1,8

61,6

55

31.6

424.5

551.6

224.0

3196.4

565.9

585.7

744.7

3

Note

:a

No

info

rmati

on

on

the

volu

me

of

mix

edfo

rest

sw

as

availab

lefo

r1954

an

d1959.

Afa

ctor

of

0.5

was

use

dto

con

vert

Cco

nte

nt

from

bio

mass

.

Forest biomass carbon in Korea 557

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For example, the total C stocks in Gyonggi, Kang-

won and Chungbuk province were slightly higher

those that in the other provinces. With the exception

of Jeollabuk province, the C densities in the decid-

uous forests in all provinces were higher than those

in the coniferous and mixed forests.

Discussion

Over the past 53 years, the total forest biomass C

stocks in Korea increased significantly from

20.57 Tg C in 1954 to 239.85 Tg C in 2007 (Table

III). In particular, since the middle of the 1970s,

this increasing trend led to Korean forests gaining a

net accumulation of 6.30 Tg C year�1 (2.25 Tg C

year�1 for coniferous forests, 2.58 Tg C year�1 for

deciduous forests and 1.46 Tg C year�1 for mixed

forests), of which 5.16 Tg C year�1 was accumu-

lated in above-ground biomass (Table IV). Such a

large C sink in Korea is due mainly to reforestation

and forest management practices. Although there is

no direct information regarding the forest area ratio

and volume ratio of plantations to the baseline

forests over time, the forest inventories showed that

the ratios of the total area and total stem volume

for forest age classes B 40 years old compared with

all forest age classes at the national level in 2007

were 87.1% and 80.5%, and the ratios for the

forest age classes B 40 years old but � 20 years

old were 65.5% and 71.3% (Korea Forest Service,

2008). In other words, the age classes B 40 years

old accounted for largest proportion of the total

forest biomass in Korea, which suggests that

successfully implemented reforestation and conse-

cutive forest management programmes over the

past three decades allow plantations to make major

contributions to C sequestration by Korean forests.

Owing to the active growth of plantations, the total

forest biomass C stocks have increased significantly

from 61.64 Tg C in 1975 to 239.85 Tg C in 2007,

with an increase in biomass C accumulation rates

from 2.53 Tg C year�1 to 11.80 Tg C year�1

(Table IV). Results from China and Japan also

indicate that plantations made major contributions

to the total national C sink (Fang et al., 2005,

2007). Choi et al. (2002) estimated a carbon

storage of 200 Tg C in the total Korean forest

biomass during the period 1973�2000 and reported

an annual uptake rate of 12 Tg C year�1 in the

late 1990s after the 30-year forest restoration

programmes. If this annual uptake rate is used to

estimate the C changes in Korean forests since

2000 while the forest growth rates vary within

different periods, the estimated value of 320 Tg C

in 2009 was much greater than the present result

(239.85 Tg C). The discrepancy between valuesTable

III.

Fore

stare

aan

dto

tal

bio

mass

Cd

ensi

tyan

dC

stock

sin

each

Kore

an

fore

stty

pe

for

dif

fere

nt

per

iod

s.a

Fore

stare

a(h

a)

Tota

lC

Cd

ensi

ty(M

gC

ha�

1)

Cst

ock

(Tg

C)

Per

iod

Tota

lC

on

ifer

ou

sD

ecid

uou

sM

ixed

Bam

boo

Mea

nC

on

ifer

ou

sD

ecid

uou

sM

ixed

All

Con

ifer

ou

sD

ecid

uou

sM

ixed

Bam

boo

1954

4,7

93,8

85

2,6

59,8

38

1,0

11,9

29

1,1

18,5

18

3600

4.2

94.1

69.2

6�

20.5

711.0

69.3

7�

0.1

4

1955�1

959

3,7

73,5

41

2,0

06,1

20

908,8

61

855,3

25

3235

6.8

66.0

914.9

1�

25.8

912.2

113.5

5�

0.1

3

1960�1

971

5,7

86,4

10

3,3

33,2

18

1,2

19,0

74

1,2

26,7

70

7348

5.0

93.0

012.6

13.0

829.4

39.9

915.3

73.7

80.2

9

1972�1

974

5,9

30,4

23

3,2

11,2

26

1,0

38,0

30

1,6

76,5

26

4641

6.9

53.6

919.4

05.4

041.2

211.8

520.1

49.0

50.1

8

1975�1

982

6,2

83,8

17

3,2

59,9

28

1,1

58,4

54

1,8

60,0

75

5360

9.7

86.6

423.4

16.7

161.4

621.6

527.1

112.4

90.2

1

1983�1

992

6,2

97,4

54

2,8

93,6

24

1,6

73,2

75

1,7

22,4

93

8062

16.9

012.8

528.3

612.4

6106.4

037.1

747.4

521.4

60.3

2

1993�2

000

6,2

68,3

05

2,7

11,4

21

1,6

65,5

50

1,8

85,2

47

6087

25.0

819.5

240.6

919.2

5157.2

252.9

467.7

636.2

80.2

4

2001�2

007

6,2

16,8

78

2,6

86,6

49

1,6

61,5

35

1,8

61,6

55

7039

38.5

830.7

661.3

729.5

3239.8

582.6

3101.9

754.9

70.2

8

Note

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may result from the different methods used. For

example, Choi et al. (2002) estimated the C

content in the total Korean forest biomass using

the mean ratio method, which has been reported to

underestimate biomass for young forests but over-

estimate for old forests (Guo et al., 2009).

Table V summarizes the national annual C sink

and mean C sequestration rate (Mg C ha�1 year�1)

Total C density (Mg/ha) Total C stock (Tg C)

(a)

Figure 2. (Continued)

Forest biomass carbon in Korea 559

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Total C density (Mg/ha) Total C stock (Tg C)

(b)

Figure 2. Changes in total biomass carbon (C) density and C accumulation by Korean forest types in different provinces from 1954 to

2007. The values for 1954 are total mean C density for all forests and the values for 1959 excluded mixed forest because forest inventories

did not distinguish the forest types for 1954 and did not provide volumes for 1959 at provincial level. Above-ground biomass C density and

accumulation demonstrate the same trend, and are not illustrated here.

560 X. Li et al.

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Table IV. Carbon accumulation (Tg C year�1) by Korean forests for different periods.a

Above-ground Total

Period All Conifer Broadleaf Mixed All Conifer Broadleaf Mixed

1954 � � � � � � � �1955�1959 0.89 0.18 0.70 � 1.06 0.23 0.84 �1960�1971 0.24 �0.15 0.13 � 0.30 �0.19 0.15 �1972�1974 3.26 0.49 1.34 1.43 3.93 0.62 1.59 1.76

1975�1982 2.06 0.98 0.73 0.35 2.53 1.23 0.87 0.43

1983�1992 3.68 1.24 1.71 0.73 4.49 1.55 2.03 0.90

1993�2000 5.22 1.57 2.14 1.51 6.35 1.97 2.54 1.85

2001�2007 9.67 3.39 4.11 2.17 11.80 4.24 4.89 2.67

Mean for 1975�2007 5.16 1.79 2.17 1.19 6.30 2.25 2.58 1.46

Note: a No information on the volume of mixed forests was available for 1954 and 1959. A factor of 0.5 was used to convert C content from biomass.

Table V. Inventory-based estimates of forest biomass carbon (C) in major northern hemispheric countries.

Country Period Forest area (M ha)

Total annual C sink

(Tg C year�1)

C sequestration rate

(Mg C ha�1 year�1) Reference

USAa 1990�2005 251.56 153.58 0.61 Smith & Heath (2008)

Geographical Europeb 2000 215.00 110.00 0.51 Liski & Kauppi (2000)

Canadab 2000 418.00 90.00 0.22 Liski & Kauppi (2000)

China 1994�2003 137.50 92.15 0.67 Fang et al. (2007)

Korea 1993�2007 6.24 9.08 1.46 This study

Japan 1991�1995 23.78 14.70 0.62 Fang et al. (2005)

Russia 1993�2003 771.27 239.00 0.31 Sohngen et al. (2005)

Total 1823.35 708.51

Mean 0.63

Note: a Carbon stocks (converted from CO2 equivalent by multiplying by 12/44) including above-ground biomass, below-ground biomass, dead wood, litter and soil organic C. b Total area of forest

and woodland.

Forest

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of major northern countries to compare the rate of

forest growth or size of the C sink with Korea. With

a total forest area of 1823.35 million ha for these

countries, the total annual C sink was 708.51 Tg C,

and the mean C sequestration rate was 0.63 Mg C

ha�1 year�1. In particular, in eastern Asia (China,

Japan and Korea), although the total annual C sink

was 167.52 Tg C, comprising approximately 1/10th

of the total annual C sink for major northern

countries, its mean C sequestration rate was

0.92 Mg C ha�1 year�1, which is much higher

than 0.63 Mg C ha�1 year�1. Korea has the

smallest forest area and total C sink, but its C

sequestration rate was 1.46 Mg C ha�1 year�1,

which is the largest accumulation rate based on the

C sink per hectare, and is very close to the result

(1.5 Mg C ha�1 year�1) reported by Choi et al.

(2002). Such a large C accumulation rate was due to

active plant growth and efficient forest management

practices. Followed by Korea, C accumulation in

China was due primarily to its extensive afforestation

efforts and forest regrowth (Fang et al., 2001, 2007),

which resulted in the second largest C sequestration

rate of 0.67 Mg C ha�1 year�1 in Chinese forests.

The C sequestration rate for Japan and the USA was

0.62 Mg C ha�1 year�1 and 0.61 Mg C ha�1

year�1, respectively. The large C sequestration rate

in Japan was due mainly to plantation growth (Fang

et al., 2005), while that in the USA was due to net

forest growth and increasing forest area (Smith &

Heath, 2008). As a result of the regrowth of young

forests and intensive silviculture, Europe also indi-

cated a significant C sequestration rate of 0.51 Mg C

ha�1 year�1 (Nabuurs et al., 2003, 2010). The C

sequestration rate in Russia was 0.31 Mg C ha�1

year�1, of which more than 65% of C accumulation

occurred in young stands (Sohngen et al., 2005).

The relatively small C sequestration rate (0.22 Mg C

ha�1 year�1) in Canada was mainly the result of

increased disturbance (Goodale et al., 2002).

Although this study estimated the changes in

forest biomass C accumulation in Korea over the

past five decades, the forest sector C budget could

not be estimated because the following four C pools

are necessary: (1) downed dead wood; (2) forest

floor; (3) soil organic C; and (4) forest products

(Woodbury et al., 2007). With the exception of

forest products, there is no information on these C

pools on the national level in Korea. However, the

ratios of different C pools examined in the USA

could be used to approximate the C budget in the

Korean forest sector because many Korean forests,

like those in the USA, are in recovery. The ratio of

net change in different C pools of the forest sector in

the USA was 0.49:0.11:0.01:0.02:0.37 for trees

(living vegetation): downed dead wood: forest floor:

soil organic C: forest products (wood products and

wood in landfill) (Woodbury et al., 2007). If these

ratios were used to estimate the net changes in the

different C pools, then the subtotal C sink of non-

living vegetation pools could be 9.45 Tg C year�1,

whereas wood products and wood in landfill may be

released many years or decades later, or may be

stored permanently in the landfill (Woodbury et al.,

2007). The total C sink for the whole forest sector in

Korea could be 18.53 Tg C year�1, of which

9.08 Tg C year�1 accumulated in tree biomass.

Korea has a large C sink considering its forest area

and larger C sequestration rate.

In conclusion, the level of Korean forest biomass C

accumulation has increased significantly over the

past 53 years. The mean C density (Mg C ha�1)

and C stock of the above-ground biomass for all

forest types increased from 3.49 Mg C ha�1 and

16.71 Tg C in 1954 to 31.46 Mg C ha�1 and

196.45 Tg C in 2007, respectively, and that of total

biomass for all forest types increased from 4.29 Mg

C ha�1 and 20.57 Tg C in 1954 to 38.58 Mg C ha�1

and 239.85 Tg C in 2007. In particular, in the past

three decades (1975�2007), forest total biomass

sequestered 6.30 Tg C annually, of which 5.16 Tg

C accumulated in above-ground biomass. The total

C sink of the whole forest sector (including trees,

downed dead wood, forest floor, soil organic C and

forest products) in Korea was estimated to be

18.53 Tg C year�1 using the ratios of the net change

in different pools examined from the USA. Korean

forests have had a higher mean C sequestration rate

(1.46 Mg C ha�1 year�1) than the average of major

northern countries (0.63 Mg C ha�1 year�1) since

the early 1990s. Such a large C uptake in Korea is due

mainly to the successfully implemented reforestation

and subsequent forest management practices.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the Forest

Science and Technology Project (no. S1107L0101)

provided by Korea Forest Service and Institute of

Forest Science of Kangwon National University.

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