About NIACS

The Northern Institute of Applied Carbon Science (NIACS) is a collaborative effort among the Forest Service, universities, and forest industry to provide ecological, economic and social information that can be used to facilitate the development and implementation of forest carbon management.

Forests store carbon while simultaneously producing sustainable supplies of renewable energy and materials that help society. There are significant uncertainties, however, about how these systems might respond to future climate change and how forest management can sustain essential ecosystem services. NIACS bridges the gap between carbon science research and the information and management needs of land owners and managers, policymakers, and members of the public.

NIACS Focus Areas

NIACS develops synthesis products, fosters communication, and pursues science in the following focus areas:

• Climate change
• Carbon science and management
• Bioenergy

NIACS Products and Publications

Forest Management for an Uncertain Climate Future: Tools and Training

Can forest soils be used for carbon credits or registries? View abstracts from the Soil Science Society of America symposium.

Fact sheets provide the principal information on essential concepts for understanding carbon science.

• The Carbon Cycle (pdf)
• Carbon Sequestration (pdf)
• Bioenergy from Wood (pdf)
• The Rhizotron: Its Significance to Climate Change (pdf)

Briefings synthesize scientific information about pivotal issues related to carbon management.

• Carbon Sequestration from Land-Use Change
• Chicago Climate Exchange
• Biomass Partitioning in Red Pine
• Estimating Carbon Mass in Northern Forests

Presentations have summary information on topics relevant to current areas of interest and past projects.

• Forest Carbon Management (pdf)
• Bioenergy: What's it all about? (pdf)
• Sustainability Considerations in Biomass Harvesting (pdf)
  

Some documents on this page are in PDF format. You may obtain a free PDF reader from Adobe.