Net uptake of carbon from the atmosphere (net ecosystem production,
NEP) is dependent on climate, disturbance history, management
practices, forest age, and forest type. To improve understanding of
the influence of these factors on forest carbon stocks and flux in the
western United States, federal inventory data and supplemental field
measurements at additional plots were used to estimate several
important components of the carbon balance in forests in Oregon and
Northern California during the 1990s. Species- and ecoregion-specific
allometric equations were used to estimate live and dead biomass
stores, net primary productivity (NPP), and mortality. In the semiarid
East Cascades and mesic Coast Range,mean total biomass was 8 and 24 kg
C/m2, and mean NPP was 0.30 and 0.78 kg Cm2/yr, respectively.