Mitigating Forested Water Supply Carbon Loading Through Timber Harvesting

Abstract

Concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), a naturally occurring water constituent, are rising in Nova Scotia’s Pockwock watershed. I aim to understand the role of forest management and climate change in landscape carbon dynamics and export. This study uses field data to calibrate the application of forest growth models with a bespoke forest management model and a custom implementation of the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector (CBM-CFS3) to simulate management scenario carbon outcomes. Results are tied to hydrologic export to predict future DOC export under management and climate scenarios. Results show timber harvesting reduces carbon in dead organic matter pools and DOC exports. The severity of climate scenarios correlates positively with DOC export increases, but this relationship is not as strong as timber harvesting and comes with uncertainties. Forested source water supplies require a re-examination of the right way to manage such landscapes.