Wildland Forest Soil Carbon Management.

In an era of global climate change, traditional wildland management practices should be examined in the context of their impacts on soil carbon sequestration. Over half of the land area of the United States and Puerto Rico is either in forest (302 million hectares) or grassland (247 million hectares) ecosystems.  This paper focuses on forestlands that hold approximately 35.5 Pg of soil carbon to a depth of 100cm.  The difficulty of managing for carbon sequestration takes on added complexity when considering the variety of ecosystems being managed. In this paper, we highlight implications of wildland management for promoting soil carbon sequestration and sustaining forest ecosystems in the United States. We address key considerations, strategies, and opportunities to incorporate soil carbon sequestration strategies into wildland management.  The paper provides examples of vegetation management including fire, soil amendments, and the implementation of best management practices and how these activities influence soil carbon sequestration.