%0 Articles %T Effects of changes in land-use, age-structure and management on carbon dynamics of European forests %A Vilén, Terhi %D 2015 %J Dissertationes Forestales %V 2015 %N 188 %R doi:10.14214/df.188 %U http://dissertationesforestales.fi/article/1972 %X In this study, effects of changes in land-use, age-structure and management on carbon dynamics of European forests were studied. Results show that despite the previously reported increased timber and carbon stocks in European forests, the average age is currently lower than in 1950. Thus, the development of forest age structure has contributed less than previously thought to the increase of European forest carbon stock from 1950 onwards. However, there exists large variation in these results at country level. In two case study countries, Finland and Czech Republic, afforestation has affected the development of mean age but it did not change the observed trend of mean age. In both countries, the increase of mean growing stock volume had a larger effect on the increase of forest biomass carbon stock than afforestation. In this work,it was also found that the average carbon stocks of tree biomass could be increased by increasing the rotation length. However, this may in some cases decrease carbon stocks of soil and wood products. In Mediterranean countries, the use of prescribed burning could decrease the emissions from forest fires, affecting considerably also the carbon balance of the LULUCF sector. Despite the uncertainties related to employed data and models, this work provided valuable insights on the effects of changes in land-use, age-structure and management on the carbon dynamics of European forests. In overall, the increase of forest carbon stocks can be largely explained by the smaller harvests compared to forest growth, but the contribution of different factors varies significantly between the countries. Findings of this work call for more systematic and accurate estimation of the carbon dynamics and balance of European forests, and factors explaining them, in order to better estimate and utilize the possibilities offered by European forests for climate change mitigation.