State Report for West Virginia

For West Virginia, estimated merchantable wood volume is expected to decrease from 33.118 billion cubic-feet to 32.312 billion (a change of -2.4%), while estimated sawlog wood volume is expected to increase from 20.534 billion cubic-feet to 20.619 billion (0.4%). Estimated merchantable bole biomass is expected to decrease from 620.19 million tons to 596.43 million (-3.8%), while estimated stump biomass is expected to decrease from 33.769 million tons to 29.97 million (-11.3%), and estimated tops and limbs biomass is expected to increase from 146.6 million tons to 247.03 million (68.5%). Finally, estimated aboveground biomass is expected to increase from 815.09 million tons to 889.66 million, a change of 9.1%.

Figure 1: Percent difference in volume and biomass for West Virginia

Species breakdown

The top ten species in West Virginia in terms of standing biomass are chestnut oak, red maple, yellow- poplar, white oak, northern red oak, sugar maple, black oak, American beech, black cherry, and pignut hickory. These species account for 73.2% of the total aboveground biomass and 71.3% of the total merchantable volume. For merchantable wood volume, the species with the smallest percent change was sugar maple -0.5%, while the largest percent change was with black cherry -11.2%. For total aboveground biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was yellow- poplar -1.3%, while the largest percent change was with red maple 23.3%. For sawlog wood volume, the species with the smallest percent change was chestnut oak -0.1%, while the largest percent change was with American beech -12.3%. For merchantable bole biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was sugar maple 0.4%, while the largest percent change was with American beech -12.9%. For stump wood and bark biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was white oak 1.5%, while the largest percent change was with black cherry -32.9%. For top and limb biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was yellow- poplar 5.8%, while the largest percent change was with northern red oak 123.3%.

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

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