Most of Europe’s original natural #forests have been transformed for agriculture and managed forests producing energy, paper and timber.

The few remaining “old-growth” natural forests are relics of the past that illustrate how forests would have looked in the absence of human management.

Most Swedish forests are so-called #boreal forests.

This type of coniferous woodland #ecosystem encompasses most of the northern regions of the planet.

After mapping and measuring the most natural old-growth forests in Sweden, scientists found that they differ much more from managed forests than previously thought, even if some of those managed forests looked old.

Old-growth forests store 78-89% more #carbon than managed forests do, a difference in carbon storage larger than Sweden’s cumulative emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels since 1834.

These new results underscores the much larger carbon storage benefits that flow from protecting forests than using them to produce bioenergy and wood products.

#climate #nature #ecology #biological
https://theconversation.com/swedens-old-growth-natural-forests-store-83-more-carbon-than-managed-woodlands-new-study-277150