Optimal forest management schemes and the corresponding forest biomass carbon sink projections in China

Forest management is in critical need for China's commitment to achieve C neutrality that will be challenged by forest carbon sink saturation. However, the national schemes of forest management tailored for space and time to mitigate carbon sink saturation remain unclear. By taking advantage of the advances in spatiotemporal investigation of forest biomass, this study derived the optimal forest stand characteristics that correspond to maximized forest biomass carbon sink (FBCS) under future climates, and mapped the optimal forest management schemes of forest thinning and aging prevention across China. According to this dataset, the projected decline in the FBCS from 2003~2020 to 2040~2060 in China could be alleviated from 34% (37%) to 2% (9%) under the SSP245 (SSP585) scenario with optimal forest managements. Meanwhile, the domestic timber supply can be improved, without the reduction in forest biomass carbon stock.