Given the import of the conclusion of a university study, I was surprised I could not find any report in any U.S. periodical. I found an article on this in the U.K.'s Register. ..... the study was done by researchers at The Rockefeller University.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/06/07/great_reversal_by_forests/">'Great Reversal' as world's forests stage a comeback - The Register
"With so much bad news available on World Environment Day <5 June> we are pleased to report that, of 68 nations studied, forest area is expanding in 45 and density is also increasing in 45," said Pekka Kauppi of the University of Helsinki. "Changing area and density combined had a positive impact on the carbon stock in 51 countries."
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Rockefeller University press release:
http://newswire.rockefeller.edu/2011/06/06/the-great-reversal-an-increase-in-forest-density-worldwide-is-under-way/">The Great Reversal, an increase in forest density worldwide, is under way
June 6, 2011 | Science News
Forests in many regions are becoming larger carbon sinks thanks to higher density, U.S. and European researchers say in a new report.
In Europe and North America, increased density significantly raised carbon storage despite little or no expansion of forest area, according to the study, conducted by Rockefeller University scientists with colleagues at Connecticut’s Agricultural Experiment Station and the University of Helsinki in Finland. The findings were published in the online, open-access journal PLoS One.
Even in the South American nations studied, more density helped maintain regional carbon levels in the face of deforestation.
The researchers analyzed information from 68 nations, which together account for 72 percent of the world’s forested land and 68 percent of reported carbon mass. They conclude that managing forests for timber growth and density offers a way to increase stored carbon, even with little or no expansion of forest area.
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http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0019577">the Research article published in PLoSOne - A National and International Analysis of Changing Forest Density
Abstract
Like cities, forests grow by spreading out or by growing denser. Both inventories taken steadily by a single nation and other inventories gathered recently from many nations by the United Nations confirm the asynchronous effects of changing area and of density or volume per hectare. United States forests spread little after 1953, while growing density per hectare increased national volume and thus sequestered carbon. The 2010 United Nations appraisal of global forests during the briefer span of two decades after 1990 reveals a similar pattern: A slowing decline of area with growing volume means growing density in 68 nations encompassing 72% of reported global forest land and 68% of reported global carbon mass. To summarize, the nations were placed in 5 regions named for continents. During 1990–2010 national density grew unevenly, but nevertheless grew in all regions. Growing density was responsible for substantially increasing sequestered carbon in the European and North American regions, despite smaller changes in area. Density nudged upward in the African and South American regions as area loss outstripped the loss of carbon. For the Asian region, density grew in the first decade and fell slightly in the second as forest area expanded. The different courses of area and density disqualify area as a proxy for volume and carbon. Applying forestry methods traditionally used to measure timber volumes still offers a necessary route to measuring carbon stocks. With little expansion of forest area, managing for timber growth and density offered a way to increase carbon stocks.
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