ha −1) and at the landscape level for the studied scenario (579 million Mg CO2 eqv.). The highest climate benefit was observed for larch, both at a stand scale (1626 Mg CO2 eqv. We compared the climate benefit of six different species in terms of carbon (C) sequestration in biomass and the harvested wood substitution in products to avoid carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil-based materials over the 100-year period by afforesting about ¼ of the available area in northern Europe. However, the choice of tree species for affor-estation to achieve the maximum climate benefit is unclear. The new European Union Forest Strategy for 2030 aims to plant an additional 3 billion trees on non-forest land to mitigate climate change. Moreover, larch and spruce stands on afforested agricultural land have a high production potential and biomass carbon sequestration (by +45% on average) compared to forest land. Larch is therefore clearly a suitable alternative to spruce for the afforestation of former agricultural land without impact on fungal pathogens and deterioration of wood quality. Regarding wood quality, a significant effect of land use on wood density was confirmed for both species. Primarily, lower (by 10%) incidence of parasitic fungal infestation of larch was observed compared to spruce. For both species, the stands on forest land also showed a lower proportion of stem rot (32%) compared to agricultural land (67%). By contrast, larch stands achieved higher structural differentiation and complex diversity when compared to spruce, especially on forest land. 314 t ha⁻¹), with no difference between tree species detected. The biomass of larch stands aged 66–71 years was significantly higher on agricultural land (506 t ha⁻¹) compared to forest land (399 t ha⁻¹), similar to spruce (508 vs.
The monospecific stands and wood of both species from afforested agricultural land were compared with original forest land in the Orlické hory Mountains (Czech Republic) based on 24 measured research plots, and 598 trees. This study aims to assess the suitability of larch for afforestation of former agricultural land compared to spruce, not only in regards to production and stand structure, but also the quality of the wood produced – wood density, shrinkage, and compression strength.
With the expected decline of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.), the importance of this tree species may increase in the afforestation of new areas and subsequent CO2 fixation in the context of climate change mitigation if its wood production and quality relative to spruce is high enough. The European larch (Larix decidua Mill.) is one of the most economically important European coniferous species.