State Report for Massachusetts

For Massachusetts, estimated merchantable wood volume is expected to decrease from 9.6694 billion cubic-feet to 9.5214 billion (a change of -1.5%), while estimated sawlog wood volume is expected to increase from 6.038 billion cubic-feet to 6.2116 billion (2.9%). Estimated merchantable bole biomass is expected to decrease from 166.57 million tons to 156.14 million (-6.3%), while estimated stump biomass is expected to decrease from 8.8617 million tons to 8.1025 million (-8.6%), and estimated tops and limbs biomass is expected to increase from 37.634 million tons to 62.428 million (65.9%). Finally, estimated aboveground biomass is expected to increase from 216.13 million tons to 230.04 million, a change of 6.4%.

Figure 1: Percent difference in volume and biomass for Massachusetts

Species breakdown

The top ten species in Massachusetts in terms of standing biomass are eastern white pine, red maple, northern red oak, eastern hemlock, black oak, sugar maple, sweet birch, white oak, scarlet oak, and white ash. These species account for 84.4% of the total aboveground biomass and 85.2% of the total merchantable volume. For merchantable wood volume, the species with the smallest percent change was sweet birch -1.3%, while the largest percent change was with eastern white pine 13.4%. For total aboveground biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was white oak 0.1%, while the largest percent change was with eastern hemlock 23.8%. For sawlog wood volume, the species with the smallest percent change was sugar maple -0.6%, while the largest percent change was with eastern white pine 20.5%. For merchantable bole biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was sweet birch 2.5%, while the largest percent change was with white ash -19.2%. For stump wood and bark biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was red maple -0.5%, while the largest percent change was with white ash -48.5%. For top and limb biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was white ash 9.7%, while the largest percent change was with eastern hemlock 142.5%.

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

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