A review of measurement methods of forest carbon sequestration

Forests play a critical role in the global carbon cycle, and their carbon sequestration not only contributes to climate change mitigation, but also improves the ecological environment and promotes sustainable social economic development. Although previous studies have also explored the measurement methods of forest carbon sequestration, most of them have focused on the above-ground sequestration and lacked in-depth discussion of the basic theories. Aiming at the shortcomings of previous studies, this study discussed the characteristics, processes and influencing mechanisms of forest carbon sequestration based on basic theoretical analysis. We focused on the analysis of carbon sequestration measurement methods for plants, soils and litter, summarized the application effects of each method at different measurement scales, systematically compared the advantages and limitations of each method. Finally, we discussed main topic of the current research and the development trend. This study showed that all forest carbon sequestration measurement methods had certain limitations and the estimation accuracy varied. Therefore, researchers should reasonably choose the most appropriate measurement method according to the existing data, measurement scale and accuracy requirements. This paper contributes to an in-depth understanding of forest carbon sequestration mechanisms and methodological principles, and provides a scientific basis for forest management and climate change response strategies.