Overview
- Published in Science, the analysis shows primary forests hold about 72% more carbon per area than managed forests when harvested wood products are included.
- Excluding harvested products, the gap reaches roughly 83%, with soils in old-growth forests storing as much carbon as all pools combined in managed stands.
- Researchers mapped relic primary forests, measured more than 200 plots and about 220 soil pits to one meter, then integrated results with decades of Swedish inventory data.
- The updated carbon difference is 2.7–8 times higher than earlier estimates, with authors estimating restoration could keep nearly 8 billion tons of CO₂ out of the atmosphere.
- The results question climate benefits assumed for intensive forestry and bioenergy and bolster calls to protect remaining primary forests as logging continues.