Forest carbon stock - Forest Research

Forest carbon stock is the amount of carbon that has been sequestered from the atmosphere and is now stored within the forest ecosystem, mainly within living biomass and soil, and to a lesser extent also in dead wood and litter.

The total carbon stock stored within UK forests is estimated to have increased between 1990 and 2015 (Table 4.1). The carbon stored in forest soils accounts for almost 75% of total forest carbon stock.

Table 4.1 Forest carbon stock

	1990	2000	2005	2010	2015
million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent
Carbon in above-ground biomass	360	471	527	583	639
Carbon in below-ground biomass	129	170	190	210	230
Carbon in dead wood	9	10	10	10	10
Carbon in litter	165	175	179	182	187
Soil carbon¹	2366	2533	2594	2629	2715
Total forest carbon	3029	3359	3500	3614	3781

^{Source: Forestry Commission}

^Notes

^{1. Carbon in soil depth 0 to 100 cm.}

^{2. To convert tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) to tonnes carbon (C), multiply by 12/44.}

^{3. Changes in soil carbon stocks over the period can be attributed to changes in UK forest area.}

These figures are outside the scope of National Statistics. For further information see the Sources chapter.

Additional resources

Sources chapter: UK Forests and Climate Change