Identifying trade-offs and opportunities for forest carbon storage and endangered species habitat in South Korea

Abstract

Protecting the endangered species habitat while attempting to limit climate change, for example by storing carbon in forests, is a major problem for managers of natural resources on a warming globe. With advantages for endangered species and decreases in atmospheric carbon, carbon offset funds provide important prospects for the preservation and restoration of natural ecosystems. endangered species, Nevertheless, may suffer if locations with rich carbon stores do not spatially correspond with the priority habitat needs of endangered species. Although species diversity and carbon stocks are generally consistent, effective conservation calls for the inclusion of more precise measurements habitat for endangered species. Based on recent data and the Zonation Prioritizing Program, this research examined the geographical trade-off between carbon and habitat priority for endangered species in South Korea. For five sample endangered species, priority sites for potential carbon sequestration (maximum potential biomass) were identified by iteratively weighing the carbon in the endangered species' habitat. Nevertheless, considerable areas crucial for endangered species habitat would be lost if prioritization was based only on carbon sequestration capacity. It is necessary to enhance policy frameworks to eliminate obstacles to landowner involvement in carbon storage projects that boost endangered species habitat and to mandate that both the carbon captured and the endangered species habitat be extra. It will be very beneficial for both the endangered species habitat and carbon storage if the endangered species habitat is properly taken into account when determining the region's priority for land-based carbon sequestration and storage. Nevertheless, in certain ecosystems, maximizing carbon storage and safeguarding endangered species' habitats may not be mutually exclusive. In contrast to persistently supporting a high stocking rate or mature forest conditions that eliminate species that prefer open or young stands as a result of promoting early successional forest conditions, promoting early successional forest conditions does not increase carbon storage at the stand level. The research on the trade-offs between carbon dioxide emissions and preserving the habitats of endangered species in South Korean woods is briefly summarized here. In each instance, activities of human beings have greatly reduced the impact of natural disturbances; thus, it is usually necessary to restore or imitate these disturbances in order to conserve the habitat, even if it means less carbon is stored at the stand level. We propose that managers and planners can discuss these trade-offs and steer clear of unfavorable behaviors that could eventually reduce adaptive capacity by using the region to maximize carbon storage and endangered species habitat. Instead, planning for landscape-scale adaptation to climate that supports a diversity of habitats and maximizes forest carbon storage can be facilitated by a critical assessment of the effects of stand-level management actions for both carbon and endangered species habitat conservation.