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.