Old-growth forests are widely recognised for the benefits they provide for biodiversity; however, a more comprehensive understanding of their role in climate change mitigation must still be established to find the optimal balance between different forest ecosystem services at a national or regional scale. Very few studies have assessed carbon pools in old-growth Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.)-dominated boreal forests, and none have been conducted in hemiboreal forests. Therefore, we assessed the carbon storage of the living tree biomass, deadwood, forest floor (soil organic horizon, including all litter and decomposed wood), and mineral soil in 25 hemiboreal old-growth (163–218 years) unmanaged Scots pine stands in Latvia. The studied stands were without known records of any major natural or human-made disturbance in the visible past. Our results show, that the total ecosystem carbon pool (excluding ground vegetation) was 291.2 ± 54.2 Mg C ha⁻¹, which was primarily composed of living tree biomass (59%), followed by mineral soil (31%), deadwood (5%), and the forest floor (5%). Within the studied stand age group, the total carbon pool remained stable; however, interchanges among the carbon pools, i.e., living biomass and laying deadwood, did occur.

Forests are the dominant land cover in Nordic–Baltic countries, and forestry, the management of forests for improved ecosystem-service (ES) delivery, is an important contributor to sustainability. Forests and forestry support multiple United Nations Sustainability Goals (UN SDGs) and a number of EU policies, and can address conflicting environmental goals. Forests provide multiple ecosystem services and natural solutions, including wood and fibre production, food, clear and clean water and air, animal and plant habitats, soil formation, aesthetics, and cultural and social services. Carbon sequestered by growing trees is a key factor in the envisaged transition from a fossil-based to a biobased economy. Here, we highlight the possibilities of forest-based solutions to mitigate current and emerging societal challenges. We discuss forestry effects on forest ecosystems, focusing on the optimisation of ES delivery and the fulfilment of UN SDGs while counteracting unwanted effects. In particular, we highlight the trilemma of (i) increasing wood production to substitute raw fossil materials, (ii) increasing forest carbon storage capacity, and (iii) improving forest biodiversity and other ES delivery.

Organic soils store a large amount of carbon stock, but they are also a large source of greenhouse gas emissions in a forest. Results of previous studies do not provide whole-country representative data of carbon stock in drained fertile organic soil forests in Europe, as the effects of stand age and dominant tree species are significant. Moreover, the growing role of old-growth stands has triggered interest in empirical data about drained organic soils. These data might serve as a reference of theoretical carbon carrying capacity that could be achieved in hemiboreal Latvia. We aimed to characterize tree biomass and deadwood carbon pools in coniferous old-growth stands on fertile, drained organic soils. Seven old-growth Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and Norway spruce (Picea abies) dominated stands (131–174 years) were measured. Both groups of stands had similar carbon stocks, reaching 167 and 154 t C ha⁻¹ in tree biomass and 11 and 10 t C ha⁻¹ in deadwood, respectively. A large variation in deadwood carbon storage was found across sample plots, ranging from 0.6 to 26.6 t C ha⁻¹. Dead standing trees and downed logs store a great share of the total deadwood carbon, 5 and 4 t C ha⁻¹, respectively. Significantly less carbon was stored in dead standing trees with broken tops (1 t C ha⁻¹). Further assessment of soil carbon stock and fluxes is ongoing to reduce uncertainty in the soil carbon evaluation of old-growth stands in the context of climate change mitigation targets in a hemiboreal region.

Forest ecosystems are significant carbon pools on a global scale, and also a source of renewable raw materials. Moreover, the European Union (EU) aims to tackle climate change and reach climate neutrality; therefore, forest regulations are designed to promote sustainable forest management practices and ensure the long-term health and productivity of forests. It is important to balance regulatory requirements with the economic, social, and environmental needs of forest stakeholders. This study analyses four theoretical scenarios (business as usual, green deal, intensive forestry, and intensive forestry with afforestation) and prognoses the management impact on standing volume and carbon stock in living trees and harvested wood products (HWPs). Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate different theoretical forest management scenarios to predict changes in standing volume and carbon stock in living tree biomass and HWPs for the 100 next years. The results suggest that intensive targeted forestry practices may enhance carbon sequestration and were found to be the most suitable strategy for Latvia’s hemiboreal zone, as they balance economic benefits with carbon sequestration and ecosystem services. The obtained results can be valuable for policymakers and forest managers to promote sustainability and balance the diverse needs of society and forest stakeholders.

Forests play an important role in climate change mitigation. Usage of harvested wood products (HWP) can extend the carbon cycle by retaining carbon as well as preventing new fossil emission via substitution. We compared carbon balance of different management strategies of birch spruce mixed stands over an eight-year period: unmanaged, representing a decision of prolonged rotation, and managed, representing a decision of final harvest of birch and retention of spruce for continuous forest cover and regeneration harvest. Management resulted in a higher contribution of mixed stands to climate change mitigation, if the carbon stock (CS) in biomass as well carbon balance (CB) of wood product is jointly considered in comparison to no management (prolonged rotation). Assortment structure plays an important role in CB of HWP, therefore a practice ensuring higher outcome of longer-lasting wood products are beneficial to climate change mitigation.