Carbon Accounting and Evaluation for Natural and Planted Forest Stands in South China

Three forest stands, i.e., natural secondary broadleaved mixed stand, 3-year-old eucalypt stand and 1-year-old eucalypt stand, were selected for study in Dongguan, south China, for forest carbon accounting and evaluation. The results showed that forest tree carbon stocks for the three stands were 85.6745 t, 17.5570 t, and 6.5469 t for broadleaved mixed stand, 3-year-old eucalypt stand, and 1-year-old eucalypt stand, respectively, while the forest soil carbon stocks for the three forest stands in a descending order were: 3-year-old eucalypt stand (97.0984 t), 1-year-old eucalypt forest stand (96.7272 t), and broadleaved mixed forest (84.6288 t), respectively. Using a carbon tax criterion, we evaluate the monetary benefit of carbon stock for each forest stand, with the broadleaved forest stand having the highest total value. This study suggested that the perennial broadleaved forest stand has significant advantage over 1-year or 3-year-old eucalypt stands in biomass carbon stocks, however, eucalypt stands have great potentials in soil carbon stock due to more organic material return from litter.