Forests, carbon budget and forest management. Some considerations on the issue

Abstract

Some concepts used for carbon balance in the forest-wood products system and for forest management are
juxtaposed. In a comprehensive view, three different scenarios are considered: virgin forest, steady-state managed forest and «in-progress» managed forest. Strong similarities were found for carbon stock and timber volume, for carbon fluxes and timber growth and uptake. A marked difference pertaining the carbon-balance, instead, arises from the need to include the litter-deadwood-soil complex. An important role in controlling the atmospheric CO2 comes from the (outof-forest) wood products obtained from managed forests. It must be stressed the relevance of the forest management culture in a modern forestry that should be ready to satisfy the new roles that adds up to the multifunctional dimension of the forest.