|Figure 2-3: Components of the terrestrial carbon pool (compiled
and amplified from Apps and Price, 1996). To fully account for
carbon at a site, one must examine the forest, the crops, and
the soils as a dynamic multi-component ecosystem, above- and
below-ground, with changes in biomass and soil organic matter as
key tracking mechanisms. The most easily measurable pool is the
total standing aboveground biomass of woody vegetation elements.
The aboveground biomass comprises all woody stems, branches, and
leaves of living trees, creepers, climbers, and epiphytes, as
well as herbaceous undergrowth. In some inventories, dead fallen
trees and other coarse woody debris, as well as the litter
layer, are included in biomass estimates; in other inventories,
these categories are considered as a separate dead organic
matter pool. In practice, standing timber volumes per hectare
are often taken as a proxy value, applying a locally tested
conversion factor (see Section 2.4). The below-ground biomass
comprises living and