Aboveground carbon pools in a long-term western larch spacing and thinning study in northwestern Montana, 2015

This publication contains data for four replicates of a carbon pool study superimposed on a pre-existing western larch spacing study in northwestern Montana. The original study was established in 1961 and examined different thinning treatments and stocking levels of western larch. Data were collected in 2015 and include carbon content estimations and analyses for hardwoods, snags, coarse woody debris, fine woody debris, forest floor materials, mineral soil, herbaceous plants, and woody understory plants. Data were only collected on non-herbicide plot treatments with the exception of the snag tree data sheet, which collected from both types of plot treatment. Tree carbon pools were calculated using live tree data from the original larch spacing study, therefore tree-level data are not provided here.
This study examined how precommercial thinning affects total aboveground carbon storage and distribution among carbon pools. Forests are terrestrial sinks for atmospheric carbon, and it is important to understand the impact that forest density and management has on carbon storage pools, which has important implications on both the ecosystem carbon cycle and carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change. Carbon pools assessed in this study include live tree, understory, woody detritus, forest floor, and mineral soil. Only materials relating to carbon storage are included in this data publication.
This study was superimposed on a pre-existing western larch spacing study that was established to examine how different precommercial thinning regimes affect long-term stand yield and tree growth. The original study questions and its materials relate to a long-term western larch spacing study established in 1961. See cross references for more information on the original study and its data. This core study is referred to as study 496 internally. The study sites are known colloquially as Coram 1, Coram 2, Cottonwood, and Pinkham. This is reflected in many of the data and supplemental materials provided in this data publication.