Mitigation of GHG emissions by the afforestation of open woodlands within the continuous boreal forest

为了扩大全球范围内减少温室气体排放的任务，《京都议定书》(KP) 允许重新造林和造林活动计入碳 (C) 固存。虽然黑云杉通常能够很好地适应野火后的再生，但有时也会出现再生不良的情况，导致封闭的树冠黑云杉毛苔林不可逆转地转变为开放的黑云杉地衣林地 (OW)。魁北克省封闭树冠北方森林中存在大量可用的有机碳，加拿大北方森林中可能还有更多有机碳，这代表了碳封存和工业温室气体排放抵消的巨大理论潜力。然而，需要解决与这种潜力相关的几个不确定性，以最大限度地减少不确定性范围并最大限度地提高 OW 造林项目的缓解效益。该研究提案通过两个不同的研究轴解决了这些重要的不确定性： 1） OW 对造林的支持能力，包括木材产量和土壤肥力； 2) 绿化森林中碳库的持久性，特别是木制品和生物能源的整合，以及自然干扰的影响。至少有 3 个指标可以说明预期结果的价值以及拟议研究的工业相关性。首先，结果的最终结果将是通过“国内抵消信用”制度，帮助该团队的主要工业合作伙伴遵守加拿大空气排放监管框架（RFAE）下的国家义务。此外，与其他方法相比，北方OW造林是一种有利的补偿方法。例如，北方温带造林不代表（或很少）机会损失，这与休耕地或废弃农田上的造林相反，后者经常因所有权或其他可能的土地而发生冲突

To extend the worldwide task of reduction in GHG emissions, the Kyoto Protocol (KP) allow reforestation and afforestation activities to be accounted for carbon (C) sequestration. While black spruce is generally well adapted to regenerate after wildfire, poor regeneration can sometimes occur, resulting in the irreversible conversion of closed-crown black spruce feathermoss stands to open black spruce-lichen woodlands (OWs). The large amount of available OWs within the closed-crown boreal forest in the province of Québec - and probably further more across the boreal forest of Canada - represents a significant theoretical potential for C sequestration and offset of industrial GHG emissions. However, several uncertainties associated to this potential need to be addressed to minimize the range of uncertainties and maximize the mitigation benefits of an OW afforestation project. The research proposal addresses these important uncertainties, in two distinct research axes: 1) The support capacity of OWs to afforestation, in terms of both wood yield and soil fertility; 2) The permanence of C stocks in afforested OWs, particularly the integration of wood products and bioenergy, and the impact of natural disturbances. There are at least 3 indicators that illustrate the value of expected results and the industrial relevance of the proposed research. First, the ultimate outcome of the results will be to help the main industrial partner of the team to comply to its national obligations under the Canadian Regulatory framework for air emissions (RFAE), through the system of "domestic offset credits". Also, the boreal OW afforestation is an advantageous offset method compared to other methods. For instance, the boreal OW afforestation represents no (or very few) lost of opportunity, contrary to afforestation on fallow lands or abandoned agricultural lands where conflicts often arise because of ownership rights or other possible land