Modeling Carbon Dynamics and Their Economic Implications in Two Forest Regions: Pacific Northwestern USA and Northwestern Russia

The goal of the project is to compare C dynamics in two major conifer forest regions Pacific Northwest and Northwestern Russia. The focus in the present report is on results from the Russian study area. •The St. Petersburg region is located in NW Russia at about 60N. The mean annual temperature is about 4 degrees C, precipitation is 600-800 mm, total land area is 8.5 million ha, and forest area is 5.7 million ha. •The mapping of C stores in forest ecosystems relies on Landsat imagery combined with stand-level forest inventory data, which is processed and supplemented with other ground data, including sample plots, timber harvest and economic data. •Based on regional summaries of forest inventory data the Russian collaborators estimate that between 1973 and 1993 carbon stores in St. Petersburg region increased from 185 to 250 million tons (Kobak et al. 1999).