2023-10-25 11:34:48
Trees are the most important carbon sink, as they absorb and store CO2 through their leaves. – BAYREUTH UNIVERSITY
MADRID, 25 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
In a large-scale study with nearly 400 partners, researchers around the world collected data on tree species to understand the importance of its leaves in the storage of CO2.
By quantifying the distribution of tree leaf types and their corresponding biomass, and identifying regions where climate change will put greater pressure on current leaf types, These findings will allow better predictions about the future functioning of terrestrial ecosystems and the carbon cycle.. The CO2 cycle plays an important role in the state of the atmosphere, the biosphere and, therefore, our climate. Trees are the most important carbon sink, as they absorb and store CO2 through their leaves. Humans, on the other hand, primarily emit CO2 through the use of fossil fuels and exacerbate development by cutting down trees that store CO2.
Understanding the different types of tree leaves is crucial to understanding their role in terrestrial ecosystems, including carbon, water and nutrient dynamics. Coniferous leaves differ from deciduous leaves in that they save water, but therefore have lower biomass productivity. Deciduous trees have adapted to seasonal climatic conditions. They can grow where evergreens cannot, that is, in areas prone to frost or drought.
“However, our knowledge of the factors that influence forest foliage types is still limited, so we do not know exactly what the global proportion of coniferous and foliage trees, as well as evergreen and deciduous trees, is. “, says it’s a statement Dr. Andreas Hemp from the Department of Plant Systematics at the University of Bayreuth, who participated in the study, published in Nature Plants.
To close this gap, almost 400 researchers from around the world have contributed data. This has resulted in a global, field-based assessment of variation in forest leaf types by merging data from nearly 10,000 forest inventory plots with records from the international Plant Trait Database TRY on leaf shape. (deciduous versus coniferous) and habit (evergreen versus coniferous).
“We found that global variation in leaf longevity (leaf habit) depends mainly on the degree of seasonal variation in temperature and soil properties, while leaf shape is mainly determined by temperature,” Hemp says. For leaves to fulfill their important function in the ecosystem, these conditions must be appropriate.
As a result of this forest inventory, researchers assume that 38% of trees worldwide are evergreen conifers, 29% are evergreen trees, 27% are deciduous trees, and 5% are conifers. deciduous. Thus, these types of trees correspond to 21%, 54%, 22% and 3%, respectively, of the aerial biomass of the forests, that is, between 18 and 335 gigatons.
“In addition, we assume that by the end of the century at least 17% and up to 38% of forested areas will be exposed to climatic conditions that currently favor a different type of forest than the current one, which illustrates the intensification of climate changes due to stress on trees in certain regions“says Hemp.
“In natural forest areas one must and can rely on the adaptability of nature; in cultivated forests, as in Europe, one sometimes has to think about forest reconversion, which is also necessary here for other reasons, e.g. when you think about tree monocultures. For example, when thinking about monoculture tree plantations with fir trees that are not adapted to the location“he added.
By quantifying the distribution of tree leaf types and their corresponding biomass, and identifying regions where climate change will place greater pressure on current leaf types, these findings will enable better predictions about the future functioning of terrestrial and ecosystems. the carbon cycle.
The CO2 cycle plays an important role in the state of the atmosphere, the biosphere and, therefore, our climate. Trees are the most important carbon sink, as they absorb and store CO2 through their leaves. Humans, on the other hand, primarily emit CO2 through the use of fossil fuels and exacerbate development by cutting down trees that store CO2.
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