Fig. 4

Carbon mitigation potential from 2020 to 2100 for needleleaved evergreen forests. The effects of harvest intensity, wood usage, and decarbonization of substituted materials on the carbon sink and total mitigation potential are displayed for mature forests (a–c) and young forests (d–f). The columns show different RCPs. Each group of dots represents one usage scenario and four harvest intensity scenarios (0%, 50%, 100%, and 150%). Black dots represent total mitigation, green dots represent the carbon sink (including products). The darker dots represent current wood usage patterns while the lighter dots refer to simulations with a 50% increase in both material and cascade usage. In low decarbonization scenarios, the substitution effect is so high that increased harvest intensity leads to higher mitigation (black dots). This is not the case when substituted materials become “greener”. The combined carbon sink becomes lower with higher management (including the product sink, as depicted here in green). Shown are the simulations of the results without salvage logging