Landowner Resource Hub

Welcome to the Forest Carbon and Climate Resource Hub for Landowners! This webpage is an online resource hub to support landowners and forestry professionals interested in learning about and applying management strategies and concepts related to forest carbon and climate. This page is organized by topic area; we encourage you to look for the headers most applicable to your situation (you can also use the search function to look for specific key words, e.g., “land management” or “carbon science”).

This resource hub focuses on resources beneficial to landowners and forestry professionals in the Lakes States, but may also be topical to those in nearby communities. We encourage you to reach out to your local university Extension office with specific questions after looking through the resources below.

You may also reach out to us (The Forest Carbon and Climate Program) at ForestC@msu.edu with questions.

Carbon and Climate Science

Welcome to the Carbon and Climate Science section of the MSU FCCP’s Landowner Resource Hub. This section aims to provide resources to establish a baseline of knowledge for landowners about climate change, carbon, forests, and how they interact. On this page, we point to resources from other Extension groups, the USDA Forest Service, and MSU databases.

  1. Forest Carbon Pools: What Are They?
  2. FCCP Course on Forest Stewardship
  3. Methods for Estimating Carbon Within Forests
  4. State and Tribal Capacity Building on Forest Carbon: Michigan
  5. USDA Northern Forests Climate Hub Vulnerability Assessment
  6. MSU Libraries Climate Resilience Hub
  7. Carbon Terminology
  8. Forests and Carbon Webinar Series
  9. Forest Carbon Data Modeling Resource Guide
  10. Forest Carbon Plot Math Video
Forest Carbon Pools: What Are They? Illustration showing carbon distribution in U.S. forests with labeled sections for aboveground biomass (26%), belowground biomass (5%), litter (6%), deadwood (5%), soil (54%), and harvested wood products (5%). The graphic highlights total carbon storage of 58,720 MMT and uses color-coded labels and icons to represent carbon sources and CO2 flow.

This article, published by Penn State FOCCE, walks through the basics of forest carbon. It identifies key carbon pools in forests and discusses the flow of carbon throughout the cycle. 

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FCCP Course on Forest Stewardship

The FCCP published a free, publicly available course on the basics of carbon science, carbon markets, and forest carbon management. This module provides a solid foundation for thinking and talking about forest carbon management and its implications. While this course emphasizes carbon management on National Forest and Grasslands, presentation two, Carbon 101, of module one provides a general overview of carbon dynamics that is relevant to many stakeholders.

Presentation one of module two provides a deeper dive into carbon dynamics in forests and grasslands.

Module 1, presentation 2 learning objectives
  1. Interpret graphs demonstrating fluctuations in CO2 concentrations
  2. Recognize different carbon pools in an ecosystem
  3. Demonstrate how management and climate stressors influence carbon fluxes
  4. Outline the role of harvested wood products in carbon storage
Module 2, presentation 1 learning outcomes
  1. Recognize temporal trends in carbon dynamics in forests and rangelands
  2. Analyze trends in carbon dynamics across a landscape

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Methods for Estimating Carbon Within Forests

This FOCCE article describes how carbon is quantified within forests. Carbon measuring uses many of the same tools as typical forest mensuration but relies on a few key equations to translate measurements such as diameter and height into carbon estimates.

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State and Tribal Capacity Building on Forest Carbon: Michigan Map showing 30-year normal annual precipitation across Michigan from 1991 to 2020, with color-coded ranges from 27 to 41 inches. Darker blue shades indicate higher precipitation in southern Michigan, while lighter shades in northern regions show lower rainfall.

This report, published by the FCCP, resulted from a webinar series and aims to improve literacy on forest carbon management in the Eastern US. This report specifically highlights forests in Michigan, discussing typical forest traits, carbon pools, and climate change considerations.

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USDA Northern Forests Climate Hub Vulnerability Assessment A map showing historical change in annual mean temperature across Michigan from 1950 to 2020, with color gradient from light yellow to beige indicating temperature increase in degrees Fahrenheit. Black asterisks mark regions with significant warming trends, highlighting widespread temperature rise throughout the state.

The US Forest Service published a vulnerability assessment for Michigan forests. This report provides a deep dive into projected impacts from climate change on forests in the Eastern upper and northern lower peninsulas. This document can help landowners in these geographies understand real impacts of climate change, and plan management actions around projected and observed forests to improve forest resilience and adaptability.

There is also a smaller field guide version of the work available here.

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MSU Libraries Climate Resilience Hub

This webpage, hosted by the MSU Libraries, points people towards resources about extreme weather in the state. Understanding and preparing for extreme weather can help landowners make management decisions that increase the resilience of their forests, decreasing mortality from novel, largescale disturbance.

Carbon Terminology

This webpage contains definitions for key forest carbon terms.

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Forests and Carbon Webinar Series

MSU hosted a webinar series that covers the basics of forest carbon, with an emphasis on forest-carbon dynamics in the eastern United States.

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Forest Carbon Data Modeling Resource Guide

This guide provides more depth about carbon modeling in forests. This is relevant to landowners seeking to develop a more in-depth understanding of carbon measurement and estimation techniques. The guide is subdivided into five separate parts covering different aspects of data collection and modeling techniques.

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Forest Carbon Plot Math Video

This video, produced by the MSU FCCP in collaboration with Dr. Dave MacFarlane of the Department of Forestry, covers forest carbon plot math, and how rough carbon estimates are developed. This video is part of a larger series introducing learners to forest mensuration.