Did ManFor C.BD forest treatments influence carbon stock and sequestration?

Forests are a key component of the global carbon cycle. It has been estimated that of the 480 Gt of carbon emitted by anthropogenic activities (fossil fuel and land-use change related emissions) since the start of industrial revolution, 166 GtC (35%) have been absorbed by forest ecosystems, 124 GtC by oceans (25%), while 190 GtC (40%) remained in the atmosphere, causing the relevant increase of CO2 concentrations that is the main driver of climate change (House et al., 2002). In this respect, the role of managed forests is crucial as several studies attributed to the forests of the Northern hemisphere, a large part of which is managed, a prominent role in the carbon cycle of the last 20 to 30 years (Schimel et al., 2001). The C cycle begins with the process of CO2 assimilation by plants that determines the delivery of assimilates to the plant internal store, which may then be used for growth, reserve or defense. In trees, growth adds biomass as foliage, wood and roots. The annual cycle of plant part losses, arising in the form of the litterfall derived from above- and below-ground parts, migrates carbon to the soil and feeds back to the heterotrophs of the ecosystem which use the energy stored in the organic matter and recycle nutrients as a major resource for further plant growth (Schulze, 2000).