Carbon Stocks in South Carolina Forestlands and Wetlands
2019 - Present
Lucas is leading a project with a variety of different researchers across South Carolina (SC) to follow up on our assessment of carbon-based management practices to better understand carbon stocks in SC and their availability for carbon markets and ecosystem services. This project will yield a better understanding of how forests are used in SC, where carbon is being stored, and how to mitigate land use change.
Visualizing Carbon Sequestration in South Carolina Story Map
Carbon Sequestration in South Carolina Forests
As the lead researcher on this project, Lucas used Forest Inventory Analysis data from the U.S. Forest Service to understand the forest composition in South Carolina and predict carbon sequestration. Utilizing the Forest Vegetation Simulator, Lucas projected carbon sequestration for 100 years across 130 plots in South Carolina to simulate California Carbon Market (CCM) protocols. The goal of this project was to give landowners tools and carbon sequestration information if they wanted to be involved in the CCM.