Accounting for Carbon in Great Lakes Forests

When most people think of the term “accounting,” they think of banks, money, and profits. But in a world affected by climate change, accounting for carbon is one of the tools researchers use to determine the consequences of climate change and suggest ways to mitigate the problem.

One of these researchers is Dr. Peter Curtis, a professor in and Chair of the Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology at Ohio State University. Curtis studies the flow of carbon into and out of Great Lakes forests, and often introduces himself as a “carbon accountant” to those unfamiliar with his work. “Just like an accountant would do accounting for money at a business, we’re interested in how much carbon goes in and out of a forest,” Curtis says. His research at the University of Michigan Biological Station in northern Lower Michigan has been going on for over 20 years, and is likely the only experiment in the world that tests the prediction that aging forests in the Great Lakes region continue to store carbon.