by University of Birmingham
Forests with a greater diversity of trees are more productive—potentially leading to greater efficiency in capturing planet-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, a new study reveals.
Researchers found that trees that grow quickly, and capture carbon faster, tend to be smaller and have shorter lifespans, leading to lower carbon storage and faster release back into the atmosphere.
Slower growing species live longer and grow larger, tending to capture more atmospheric carbon—particularly in the setting of more diverse forests.
Analyzing 3.2 million measurements from 1,127 species of trees across the Americas—from southern Brazil to northern Canada—an international team of experts mapped life expectancies for trees ranging from 1.3 to 3,195 years.
In an article published Oct. 3 in Science, an international group including researchers from South America, Central America, Europe and North America—led by ETH Zurich, Switzerland—further identify four main types of tree life-cycles: Fast-growing species with shorter lifespans and low maximum sizes, plus three clusters of slow-growing species.
