[Spatiotemporal variation of carbon storage in forest vegetation in Sichuan Province]

Based on the modeling of forest biomass and timber volume and the 1974-2004 forest inventory data, the spatiotemporal variation of carbon density and storage in forest vegetation in Sichuan Province was studied. The results showed that the forest carbon storage was increased from 300.02 Tg in 1974 to 469.96 Tg in 2004, with an annual increment of 1.51%, which suggested that the forests in Sichuan Province were the sink of CO2. However, owing to the increase of plantations, the average carbon density of forest vegetation decreased from 49.91 Mg x hm(-2) to 37.39 Mg x Shm(-2), implying that Sichuan forests had a great potential of carbon sequestration through artificial forest management. The carbon storage in Sichuan forests had a spatial heterogeneity, and the ranked order was northwest alpine gorge area > southwest mountainous area > low-mountain area > hilly area > western plain. Forest carbon density increased from southwest area to northwest area, with the order of hilly area < northern plain < southwest mountain area < low-mountain area < northwest alpine gorge area. It was suggested that forest management according to different sub-regions would improve the potential of carbon sequestration in Sichuan forests.