Assessing carbon storage and carbon sequestration for natural forests, man-made forests, and bamboo forests in Taiwan

The purpose of this study was to assess the carbon storage (CS) and mean carbon sequestration (MCS) for natural forests, man-made forests, and bamboo forests. The study site was located in central Taiwan. We predicted the CS and MCS for a natural forest and two man-made forests (Taiwan red cypress and Japanese cedar) and cited the CS and MCS for two bamboo forests (Makino and Moso) from the previous studies. The results showed that the CS and MCS, respectively, were 192.84 Mg ha−1 and 0.67 Mg ha−1 yr−1 for the natural forest; 68.85–96.81 Mg ha−1 and 3.47–4.45 Mg ha−1 yr−1 for the Taiwan red cypress; 101.14–164.80 Mg ha−1 and 2.66–5.23 Mg ha−1 yr−1 for the Japanese cedar; 49.8 Mg ha−1 and 9.89 Mg ha−1 yr−1 for the Makino bamboo; and 40.6 Mg ha−1 and 8.13 Mg ha−1 yr−1 for the Moso bamboo. The natural forest had the highest CS and the lowest MCS; conversely, bamboo forests had the lowest CS and the highest MCS. Moreover, the ratios of MSC to CS (RMCS/CS) were 0.0034, 0.0229–0.0562, and 0.2 for the natural forests, man-made forests, and bamboo forests, respectively.