State Report for South Carolina

For South Carolina, estimated merchantable wood volume is expected to increase from 26.205 billion cubic-feet to 26.565 billion (a change of 1.4%), while estimated sawlog wood volume is expected to decrease from 15.719 billion cubic-feet to 15.717 billion (0%). Estimated merchantable bole biomass is expected to increase from 458.66 million tons to 462.08 million (0.7%), while estimated stump biomass is expected to decrease from 27.835 million tons to 26.911 million (-3.3%), and estimated tops and limbs biomass is expected to increase from 96.614 million tons to 139.04 million (43.9%). Finally, estimated aboveground biomass is expected to increase from 637.65 million tons to 693.72 million, a change of 8.8%.

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

Species breakdown

The top ten species in South Carolina in terms of standing biomass are loblolly pine, sweetgum, water oak, white oak, red maple, yellow- poplar, laurel oak, swamp tupelo, longleaf pine, and willow oak. These species account for 73.1% of the total aboveground biomass and 76.5% of the total merchantable volume. For merchantable wood volume, the species with the smallest percent change was sweetgum 0%, while the largest percent change was with willow oak -4.3%. For total aboveground biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was swamp tupelo 0%, while the largest percent change was with laurel oak 30.9%. For sawlog wood volume, the species with the smallest percent change was water oak 0.1%, while the largest percent change was with willow oak -6.6%. For merchantable bole biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was longleaf pine -0.6%, while the largest percent change was with laurel oak 11.7%. For stump wood and bark biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was sweetgum 1.7%, while the largest percent change was with swamp tupelo 65.5%. For top and limb biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was sweetgum 3.7%, while the largest percent change was with white oak 130.7%.

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

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