TY - JOUR
T1 - A distributional analysis of the socio-ecological and economic determinants of forest carbon stocks
AU - Soto, José R.
AU - Escobedo, Francisco J.
AU - Adams, Damian C.
AU - Blanco, German
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank the Pine Integrated Network: Education, Mitigation, and Adaptation project (PINEMAP); a Coordinated Agricultural Project funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture , Award # 2011-68002-30185 for financial support and the USDA Forest Service FIA program for providing data. We also thank Sonia Delphin for valuable contributions to this work.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd.
Copyright:
Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2016/6/1
Y1 - 2016/6/1
N2 - Forest carbon (C) sequestration is being actively considered by several states as a way to cost-effectively comply with the forthcoming United States (US) Environmental Protection Agency's rule that will reduce power plant C emissions by 32% of 2005 levels by 2030. However, little is known about the socio-ecological and distributional effects of such a policy. Given that C is heterogeneous across the landscape, understanding how social, economic, and ecological changes affect forest C stocks and sequestration is key for developing forest management policies that offset C emissions. Using Florida US as a case study, we use US National Forest Inventory Analysis and Census Bureau data in both linear regression and quantile regression analyses to examine the socio-ecological and economic determinants of forest C stocks and its relationship with differing communities. Quantile regression findings demonstrate nonlinearity in the effects of key determinants, which highlight the limitations of regularly used mean-based regression analyses. We also found that forest basal area, site quality, stand size, and stand age are significant ecological predictors of carbon stocks, with a positive and increasing effect on upper quantiles where C stocks are greater. The effect of education was generally positive and mostly significant at upper quantiles, while the effects of income and locations with predominantly minority residents (as compared to whites) were negative. Upper quantiles were also affected by population age. Our findings underscore the importance of considering the broader socio-ecological and economic implications of compliance strategies that target the management of forests for carbon sequestration and other ecosystem services.
AB - Forest carbon (C) sequestration is being actively considered by several states as a way to cost-effectively comply with the forthcoming United States (US) Environmental Protection Agency's rule that will reduce power plant C emissions by 32% of 2005 levels by 2030. However, little is known about the socio-ecological and distributional effects of such a policy. Given that C is heterogeneous across the landscape, understanding how social, economic, and ecological changes affect forest C stocks and sequestration is key for developing forest management policies that offset C emissions. Using Florida US as a case study, we use US National Forest Inventory Analysis and Census Bureau data in both linear regression and quantile regression analyses to examine the socio-ecological and economic determinants of forest C stocks and its relationship with differing communities. Quantile regression findings demonstrate nonlinearity in the effects of key determinants, which highlight the limitations of regularly used mean-based regression analyses. We also found that forest basal area, site quality, stand size, and stand age are significant ecological predictors of carbon stocks, with a positive and increasing effect on upper quantiles where C stocks are greater. The effect of education was generally positive and mostly significant at upper quantiles, while the effects of income and locations with predominantly minority residents (as compared to whites) were negative. Upper quantiles were also affected by population age. Our findings underscore the importance of considering the broader socio-ecological and economic implications of compliance strategies that target the management of forests for carbon sequestration and other ecosystem services.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.envsci.2016.02.015
DO - 10.1016/j.envsci.2016.02.015
M3 - Research Article
AN - SCOPUS:84960887698
SN - 1462-9011
VL - 60
SP - 28
EP - 37
JO - Environmental Science and Policy
JF - Environmental Science and Policy
ER -