An outlook on the Rapid Decline of Carbon Sequestration in French Forests and associated reporting needs
P . Ciais, C. Zhou, P . Schneider, M. Schwartz, N. Besic, C. Vega, J.-D. Bontemps

TL;DR
This paper analyzes the decline in carbon sequestration in French forests from 1990 to 2022, highlighting recent decreases due to climate shocks and emphasizing the need for improved reporting on abrupt forest losses.
Contribution
It provides a comprehensive assessment of carbon storage changes in French forests over three decades, integrating multiple data sources and discussing the implications of climate-related disturbances.
Findings
Forest CO2 removal peaked in 2008 and declined thereafter.
Recent droughts and heatwaves have increased forest mortality.
Regional differences show varied impacts on carbon sequestration.
Abstract
In this study, we present and discuss changes in carbon storage in the French forests from 1990 to 2022, derived from CITEPA statistics on forest carbon accounting, fed by National Forest Inventory (NFI) data collected through an extensive network of measurement sites across Metropolitan France, and other data sources as regards forest removals. The NFI is designed to provide statistical estimations of growing stock, gains and losses at the national or subnational levels but is unable, in its classical form, to provide detailed spatial outlook, such as on abrupt losses during fires, droughts and insect attacks. A continuing removal of CO2 from the atmosphere by the French forests occurred from 1990 to 2022, because harvest and mortality CO2 losses remained smaller than CO2 removals by forest growth and the increase in forest area (70,000 ha per year but insignificant in terms of…
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Taxonomy
TopicsFire effects on ecosystems · Forest ecology and management · Forest Biomass Utilization and Management
