This study explores the biophysical potential and economic attractiveness of black spruce (Picea mariana) regeneration in eastern Canada under future climate changes. It integrates process-based ecosystem model simulated forest productivities from three major global climate models (GCMs), growth and yield formulations specific to black spruce and economic analyses to determine the overall investment value of black spruce, both including and excluding carbon sequestration benefits. Net present value (NPV) was estimated to represent the financial attractiveness of long-rotation forest plantations through time. It was assumed that stands would not be harvested at volumes less than 80 m3 ha-1. The price of stumpage was set to $20 m-3, stand establishment cost was set to $500 ha-1, and the discount rate was considered at 4%, with sensitivity analyses conducted around these assumptions. The growth and yield of black spruce was simulated for an extreme future climate scenario – IPCC-RCP 8.5. The results suggested a general North-South gradient in forest productivity where gross merchantable wood volumes increased with decreasing latitudes. This pattern was also observed in NPVs, with higher values projected for the southern portion of the study area. Based on the base economic assumptions and sensitivity analyses, study results suggested that black spruce plantations are not economically attractive, unless carbon sequestration benefits of at least $5 ton-1 CO2 are realized. Further sensitivity analyses showed that discount rate plays a significant role in determining the optimal harvest age and value. Furthermore, the optimal harvest rotation age increases with increasing carbon price by approximately 9 to 18 years. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

The southern end of the Black Warrior Basin has been the site of limited drilling operations, but a critical need now exists to establish a greater understanding of the regional stratigraphy. The objectives of this study were to define a sequence stratigraphic framework for the southernmost Black Warrior Basin, to identify chronostratigraphic timelines within depositional environments, identify regional transgressive and high stand systems tracts. This information was used to identify three target reservoirs, characterize petrophysical properties, and confirm integrity of reservoir and seal formations for geologic storage. Methods include correlation of petrophysical well logs in the study area, well log analysis, as well as petrographic and core analyses. Five cycles were identified in well log cross sections. Sequence boundaries will be identified in both cross sections seismic data. Cretaceous sediments deposited above a regional sequence boundary above the Paleozoic that may represent as much as ~141 ma of erosion or non-deposition. The results of this study will contribute to development of a proposed geologic carbon sequestration facility in Kemper County, Mississippi.

Mammalian herbivory of bottomland hardwood seedlings has been listed as one of the primary causal factors of failed afforestation efforts in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley (LMAV). This study examined the biological and economic effects of mammalian herbivory on recently afforested carbon sequestration sites in the LMAV. Selected seedlings of six planting mixes were observed through the first year following planting to monitor seedling survival, growth, and mammalian herbivory. It was determined that greater than 10% of selected seedlings were browsed by various mammalian herbivore species, and some species mixes were browsed in excess of 50%. Financial analyses compared alternative afforestation strategies and determined to what extent herbivore-induced seedling mortality could reduce investment returns of landowners engaged in afforestation activities. In the presence of extreme mammalian herbivory, landowner returns can be reduced by hundreds of dollars per acre and could prevent further afforestation activities in the LMAV.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

To protect the integrity of the United State's waters, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 promoted the establishment of Best Management Practices (BMPs) for forestry. A commonly used BMP is the reservation of Streamside Management Zones (SMZs). In this study the effectiveness of three different SMZ widths, 30.5 m (100 ft), 15.3 m (50 ft), and 7.6 m (25 ft), as well as thinning in 15.3 m SMZs were studied. The objectives of the study were to determine the effects these SMZ treatments had on carbon pools, carbon fluxes and environmental conditions in the SMZ. The benthic macroinvertebrate populations present within the stream were also examined because of their relationship to ecosystem carbon dynamics. Carbon storage in plant communities, litter layer, soil (upper 10 cm), and total organic carbon present (TOC) within streams were measured and quantified. Total CO₂ efflux and the major environmental drivers of soil CO₂ efflux, soil moisture and soil temperature, were monitored along a single transect within each SMZ. This study showed that carbon dynamics and stream biota (benthic macroinvertebrates) were not adversely effected by more narrow SMZ width and thinning within the SMZ. SMZ width did affect soil temperature, one of the environmental drivers affecting soil respiration. Based on these short-term results a 15.3 m SMZ with thinning or without thinning appears adequate to prevent changes in ecosystem function and water quality for forest applications. / Master of Science

Analysis of synthetic data was performed to determine the most cost-effective tomographic monitoring system for a geologic carbon sequestration injection site. Artificial velocity models were created that accounted for the expected velocity decrease due to the existence of a CO₂ plume after underground injection into a depleted petroleum reservoir. Seismic events were created to represent induced seismicity from injection, and five different geophone arrays were created to monitor this artificial seismicity. Double-difference tomographic inversion was performed on 125 synthetic data sets: five stages of CO₂ plume growth, five seismic event regions, and five geophone arrays. Each resulting velocity model from tomoDD—the double-difference tomography program used for inversion—was compared quantitatively to its respective synthetic velocity model to determine an accuracy value. The quantitative results were examined in an attempt to determine a relationship between cost and accuracy in monitoring, verification, and accounting applications using double-difference tomography. While all scenarios resulted in little error, no such relationship could be found. The lack of a relationship between cost and error is most likely due to error inherent to the travel time calculation algorithm used. / Master of Science

Soils are a major component of the global carbon budget and may serve an important role in mitigating increasing atmospheric CO2 through their capacity to store carbon. In this regard, it is important to evaluate the implications of forest management on changes in carbon cycling and sequestration and to determine the magnitude by which the efflux of CO2 from the soil surface can vary in time and space. For this study, soil CO2 efflux was measured in 5 replicate blocks of naturally regenerated and planted loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata), and eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) in a 50-acre clear-cut on the Virginia Piedmont. Rates of CO2 efflux were measured every 2 weeks immediately adjacent and away (1m) from newly planted seedlings and cut stumps using a dynamic, closed-chamber infrared gas analyzer system. For each measurement date, volumetric water content was taken in the top 17cm, using time domain reflectometry (TDR) and soil-surface temperature was recorded in the top 7cm, using a temperature probe. For the October measurement a 12cm depth soil core (7cm diameter) was collected for each location. Carbon, nitrogen, coarse fragments, roots, surface litter and coarse woody debris were measured separately for each core. Position (near and away from seedling) had a strong effect on soil CO2 efflux rates. For the first measurement date, rates were higher near the newly planted seedlings (3.09μmol/m2/s) than those taken away from the seedlings (2.29 μmol/m2/s).. The same trend was maintained for the CO2 efflux rates measured near a cut stumps (3.51μmol/m2/s) and those taken away from the stump base (2.56μmol/m2/s). Species proved to have no significant effect on respiration rates for any date and no interaction between species and position was observed. Regression analysis was used to model the influence of soil and plant factors on efflux rates. Temperature (29.2%), position (near and away from the seedlings and stumps base)* temperature, (7.7%), soil carbon (4.1%), organic matter (1.6%), and soil moisture (0.7%) proved to be the major drivers for soil respiration (R2 = 0.4329). When only data near seedlings or stumps were modeled, species had a significant effect on soil CO2 efflux rates. The largest seedlings, loblolly pine (100 cm3 seedling value), had on average the highest rates followed by shortleaf pine (30 cm3 seedling value) and eastern white pine, which were the smallest (9 cm3 seedling value). Stumps had the highest efflux rates. The mean soil respiration rate measured over a seven month sampling period was 2.58 μmol/m2/s,, while the calculated carbon loss from the soil over the same period added up to 575 g C/ m2. The annual carbon loss was estimated to be 675 g C/ m2. / Master of Science

Forests have the ability to alleviate the impact of global warming through carbon sequestration. Six forest management scenarios for a 27,000 acre study area are modeled to determine the impact of forest management on carbon sequestration. Forest management determines annual harvested volume and end-use disposition category of wood products, and inventory volume. Shorter rotations tend to produce short-lived wood products, while longer rotations produce long-lived wood products. Thinning removes pulpwood, which increases the average diameter of the stand and increases the proportion of sawtimber products. Changing forest management complicates accounting for changes in future C storage. Understanding the distinction between pre- and post-regulation harvest volume and C storage is essential to understand the effects of forest regulation. Plotting harvested volume and C storage volume over time shows distinctive pre- and post-regulation characteristics. The pre-regulation curves exhibit irregularities and varying thinned volume due to the uneven area in the existing age classes. Post-regulation curves are level because a constant area is annually thinned and clearcut. Carbon storage is the amount of C that is sequestered into a C pool, which for the purposes of this study is either inventory volume or residual wood product volume. Converting volume flows to C storage involves tracking the accumulation of wood products and standing volume over time then converting volume to a measure of C. Once the forest is regulated, C stored in the inventory pool remains constant from year to year, while the C stored in wood products continually increases. Longer rotations store more carbon than shorter rotations because they have larger inventory pools. Wood products are a substantial carbon pool: at the end of 50 years; the ratio of incremental C in the wood products carbon pool to incremental C in the inventory pool ranges from 6 to 122 for the modeled scenarios. Three accounting periods are evaluated to examine the importance of C sequestration timing to determine if a market for C can influence forest management. Long rotations meet the objectives of maximizing C sequestration and NPV for the modeled regimes regardless of the accounting period considered, or if the forest is regulated or un-regulated. Model sensitivity to decomposition rate, discount rate and timber prices is assessed to determine the effects of uncertainty (measurement error and future trends) on the results of the model. Short rotations are most sensitive to decomposition assumptions and stumpage prices because they produce a large amount of fast-decaying wood products. Long rotations are most affected by discount rate. Carbon storage of all scenarios increases substantially when the pulpwood decomposition rate equals the sawtimber decomposition rate to reflect a potential future increase in composite lumber production. / Master of Science