Objective This study aims to gain an in-depth understanding of the status of forest carbon sinks in China, clarify the spatial connections and spillover mechanisms among forest carbon sink value production across provinces, improve the level of forest carbon sink management, optimize the management mode of carbon sink value, and promote the high-quality development of forests in China.
Method Based on the data of the 8th and 9th National Forest Resources Inventories, the forest carbon sink value in China from 2013 to 2018 was estimated using the forest stock expansion method. Social network analysis was employed to analyze the spillover effects and ecological aggregation effects of forest carbon sinks, and corresponding value management strategies were discussed.
Result (1) From 2013 to 2018, both China’s forest carbon stock and carbon sink increased significantly. The total value of forest carbon sink in China was 154.564 billion CNY, with an average annual physical increase of 217 million t and the average annual monertary value increase of 27.217 billion CNY. (2) The overall density of the forest carbon sink value association network was 0.273 1, which was not high, but the network correlation degree was 1, reflecting that the overall network access was good and the network correlation degree is high. The level of forest carbon sink value correlation network was 0.426 6, which reflects a relatively high degree of concentration in the production of forest carbon sink value in different provinces, and there was the possibility of mutual spillover between the networks. The efficiency of carbon sink value correlation network was 0.632 2, which reflects the high efficiency of network information transmission, and also indicates that the network had good accessibility and certain stability. (3) There were “strong provinces” in the forest carbon sink value association network, such as Inner Mongolia, Hubei, Anhui and other provinces, with network betweenness values of 160.83, 106.79 and 54.09, respectively, far exceeding the national average of 19.91. These provinced are in the core and bridge position in the association network, and there was an ecological aggregation effect, but the overall spillover capacity needed improvement.
Conclusion The study found that the production of forest carbon sink value in China shows a significant spatial correlation, which is specifically manifested as an ecological linkage effect and has formed a carbon sink “growth pole” with radiation-driven effect. For management, a comprehensive management of “classified management + regional cooperation” should be adopted to promote high-quality forest development. Additionally, it is necessary to strengthen the understanding of the value association network of forest carbon sinks, and use the “growth pole” to drive the overall network to “general growth”, enhance the ecological aggregation effect, and thereby maximize the value of forest carbon sink in China.
DownLoad: