Age-dependence of stand biomass in managed boreal forests based on the Finnish National Forest Inventory data

Abstract Information on carbon stocks and the rate of carbon accumulation is needed to harness the climate change mitigation potential of boreal forests. While previous studies have revealed general patterns and mechanisms for age-dependence of stand biomass, simple stand-level models that address the age-biomass relationship on average in managed boreal forests in different environmental conditions are largely missing. We developed models for the relationship between stand age and biomass by forest types on peatlands and mineral soils across climate zones in managed forests in Finland based on National Forest Inventory measurements from 1996 to 2018. In addition, we analyzed at which rate biomass accumulates when managed forest ages in different growth conditions. In northern Finland the maximum biomass change rate was one third, and the maximum biomass stock less than half of the corresponding values in sub-xeric heath forests on minerals soils in southern Finland. On drained peatlands the maximum biomass growth rate was approximately half, and on undrained peatlands one third of the maximum growth rate on mineral soils. On most fertile sites on mineral soils the maximum biomasses were three times larger than on the poorest sites. Correspondingly, the maximum biomass stock change rates were almost eight times faster on most fertile sites. In the example cases presented, the highest annual biomass change rates were achieved in young forests on average at the stand ages of 7–32 years, whereas the 95% of the maximum stock were reached on average in stands of 63–147 years. At the age of highest biomass growth rate stands contained 27–59% of the maximum biomass stocks. The developed models can be used in practical applications such as accounting of biogenic carbon in life-cycle assessments, mapping carbon, or creating simple predictions of biomass stock development in regions, or estimating the mitigation potential of afforestation and reforestation or estimating the magnitude of carbon offsets projects.