State Report for Illinois

For Illinois, estimated merchantable wood volume is expected to increase from 10.087 billion cubic-feet to 11.913 billion (a change of 18.1%), while estimated sawlog wood volume is expected to increase from 5.777 billion cubic-feet to 6.9534 billion (20.4%). Estimated merchantable bole biomass is expected to increase from 191.34 million tons to 211.38 million (10.5%), while estimated stump biomass is expected to increase from 10.475 million tons to 11.688 million (11.6%), and estimated tops and limbs biomass is expected to increase from 43.397 million tons to 100.78 million (132.2%). Finally, estimated aboveground biomass is expected to increase from 249.9 million tons to 329.31 million, a change of 31.8%.

Figure 1: Percent difference in volume and biomass for Illinois

Species breakdown

The top ten species in Illinois in terms of standing biomass are white oak, silver maple, black oak, northern red oak, shagbark hickory, pignut hickory, black walnut, hackberry, sugar maple, and American elm. These species account for 56% of the total aboveground biomass and 52.4% of the total merchantable volume. For merchantable wood volume, the species with the smallest percent change was silver maple 2.7%, while the largest percent change was with pignut hickory 42.1%. For total aboveground biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was sugar maple 27.9%, while the largest percent change was with hackberry 56.2%. For sawlog wood volume, the species with the smallest percent change was silver maple 4.1%, while the largest percent change was with pignut hickory 40.4%. For merchantable bole biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was northern red oak 4.9%, while the largest percent change was with pignut hickory 36.1%. For stump wood and bark biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was sugar maple 0.2%, while the largest percent change was with American elm 44.3%. For top and limb biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was pignut hickory 58.4%, while the largest percent change was with silver maple 265.3%.

Figure 2: Percent difference in total aboveground biomass and merchantable volume for the top ten species in Illinois

Figure 3: Percent difference in component biomass and volume for the top ten species in Illinois