Untouched forests store 3 times more carbon than plantation forests on a harvesting schedule. Natural forests act as large carbon sinks, absorbing carbon and preventing its release. Complex forest ecosystems provide much more storage capacity than simplified, heavily managed forests.

The research performed by scientists at the Australian National University provides another layer in the carbon trading debate. Kyoto and other carbon trading schemes tend to lump all forests together, based on sequestration potential of plantation forests. In reality, the preservation of old growth forests provides much more capacity than replacing those forests with sustained yield forest practices.

"'The majority of biomass carbon in natural forests resides in the woody biomass of large old trees. Commercial logging changes the age structure of forests so that the average age of trees is much younger," [the report] said.

"'The carbon stock of forests subject to commercial logging, and of monoculture plantations in particular, will therefore always be significantly less on average than the carbon stock of natural, undisturbed forests.'"

The research offers fodder for preservationists who continue to demonstrate the importance of maintaining the natural order of forest ecosystems.