State Report for Virginia

For Virginia, estimated merchantable wood volume is expected to increase from 40.452 billion cubic-feet to 42.061 billion (a change of 4%), while estimated sawlog wood volume is expected to increase from 25.065 billion cubic-feet to 26.006 billion (3.8%). Estimated merchantable bole biomass is expected to increase from 733.15 million tons to 765.81 million (4.5%), while estimated stump biomass is expected to decrease from 41.664 million tons to 40.243 million (-3.4%), and estimated tops and limbs biomass is expected to increase from 166.94 million tons to 284.63 million (70.5%). Finally, estimated aboveground biomass is expected to increase from 1.0094 billion tons to 1.1725 billion, a change of 16.2%.

Figure 1: Percent difference in volume and biomass for Virginia

Species breakdown

The top ten species in Virginia in terms of standing biomass are yellow- poplar, loblolly pine, chestnut oak, white oak, red maple, northern red oak, scarlet oak, sweetgum, black oak, and Virginia pine. These species account for 70.5% 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 sweetgum -0.1%, while the largest percent change was with black oak 7.9%. For total aboveground biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was loblolly pine 2.5%, while the largest percent change was with red maple 27.5%. For sawlog wood volume, the species with the smallest percent change was loblolly pine -0.6%, while the largest percent change was with northern red oak 10.8%. For merchantable bole biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was loblolly pine -0.2%, while the largest percent change was with yellow- poplar 12.5%. For stump wood and bark biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was sweetgum 0.8%, while the largest percent change was with Virginia pine -30.6%. For top and limb biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was sweetgum 1.8%, while the largest percent change was with northern red oak 134.9%.

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

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