State Report for Louisiana

For Louisiana, estimated merchantable wood volume is expected to increase from 27.085 billion cubic-feet to 27.135 billion (a change of 0.2%), while estimated sawlog wood volume is expected to decrease from 16.75 billion cubic-feet to 16.55 billion (-1.2%). Estimated merchantable bole biomass is expected to decrease from 480.45 million tons to 462.31 million (-3.8%), while estimated stump biomass is expected to decrease from 29.331 million tons to 28.951 million (-1.3%), and estimated tops and limbs biomass is expected to increase from 99.352 million tons to 147.18 million (48.1%). Finally, estimated aboveground biomass is expected to increase from 663.86 million tons to 704.05 million, a change of 6.1%.

Figure 1: Percent difference in volume and biomass for Louisiana

Species breakdown

The top ten species in Louisiana in terms of standing biomass are loblolly pine, water oak, sweetgum, baldcypress, slash pine, water tupelo, white oak, willow oak, southern red oak, and green ash. These species account for 66.5% of the total aboveground biomass and 72.5% of the total merchantable volume. For merchantable wood volume, the species with the smallest percent change was loblolly pine 0.2%, while the largest percent change was with green ash -15%. For total aboveground biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was loblolly pine 2%, while the largest percent change was with baldcypress -29.3%. For sawlog wood volume, the species with the smallest percent change was loblolly pine 0.2%, while the largest percent change was with green ash -26.6%. For merchantable bole biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was slash pine -0.4%, while the largest percent change was with baldcypress -32.4%. For stump wood and bark biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was green ash -2.1%, while the largest percent change was with water tupelo 76.9%. For top and limb biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was green ash -0.3%, while the largest percent change was with southern red oak 142.4%.

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

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