State Report for North Carolina

For North Carolina, estimated merchantable wood volume is expected to increase from 43.591 billion cubic-feet to 44.702 billion (a change of 2.5%), while estimated sawlog wood volume is expected to increase from 27.202 billion cubic-feet to 27.716 billion (1.9%). Estimated merchantable bole biomass is expected to increase from 763.09 million tons to 785.82 million (3%), while estimated stump biomass is expected to decrease from 44.667 million tons to 43.371 million (-2.9%), and estimated tops and limbs biomass is expected to increase from 168.99 million tons to 263.92 million (56.2%). Finally, estimated aboveground biomass is expected to increase from 1.0626 billion tons to 1.1954 billion, a change of 12.5%.

Figure 1: Percent difference in volume and biomass for North Carolina

Species breakdown

The top ten species in North Carolina in terms of standing biomass are loblolly pine, yellow- poplar, red maple, white oak, sweetgum, chestnut oak, northern red oak, scarlet oak, Virginia pine, and swamp tupelo. These species account for 67.1% of the total aboveground biomass and 69.6% of the total merchantable volume. For merchantable wood volume, the species with the smallest percent change was sweetgum -0.2%, while the largest percent change was with northern red oak 5.3%. For total aboveground biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was loblolly pine 1.5%, while the largest percent change was with red maple 26.7%. For sawlog wood volume, the species with the smallest percent change was loblolly pine 0.2%, while the largest percent change was with northern red oak 10.6%. For merchantable bole biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was swamp tupelo -0.9%, while the largest percent change was with yellow- poplar 12.6%. For stump wood and bark biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was chestnut oak -0.6%, while the largest percent change was with swamp tupelo 70.6%. For top and limb biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was sweetgum 4.5%, while the largest percent change was with white oak 126.7%.

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

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