In a finding that may upset many climate models that are putting excessive faith in the carbon dioxide absorption capacity of trees to nullify carbon emissions, a new study has revealed that the carbon-storing capacity of trees vary sharply in accordance with regional characteristics.
So far, the bulk of the climate models has been built around the presumption that carbon storage capacity enhances the fertilization of trees.
The study conducted by researchers at Western Sydney University (WSU) in Australia noted that common Australian trees were not storing carbon in the previously assumed rates.
The study has been published in the journal Nature Climate Change.
The finding is pregnant with long-term implications on climate change emission models.
According to the study, the skewed carbon dioxide absorption of Eucalyptus forests has more to do with the lack of desired soil nutrients to leverage the extra carbon dioxide floating in the atmosphere.
During the study, vast areas of remnant native eucalyptus forests were exposed to high levels of carbon dioxide at a WSU facility. However, it was observed that while extra carbon dioxide increased photosynthesis, there was no corresponding hike in leaves, stems, and wood.
The behavior of trees in Australia was in contrast to the United Stated and Europe where the addition of extra carbon dioxide to temperate forests showed growth of trees by an average 23 percent.
Flaw Of Overestimated Carbon Storage
Commenting on the findings, David Ellsworth of the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment in WSU said the results were an affirmation that global estimates of carbon storage in forests may be too high.
"[M]any of the world's sub-tropical and tropical forested regions exist on low-nutrient soils," Ellsworth explained.
Ellsworth said conditions in Australia's native forests for plants were not as ideal as expected. This was proved by the higher productivity exhibited when researchers added phosphorus to the soil under enhanced carbon dioxide and saw a visible increase in tree growth by 35 percent. This confirmed that Australian eucalyptus trees can store more carbon from the air if nutrients are available.
According to Ellsworth, Australia's soils are low in nutrients with the bulk of them stored inside roots, wood, and leaves. Lack of available nutrients in the soil handicap the trees from taking advantage of the extra carbon dioxide in the air.
By highlighting the divergence in the nullifying capacity of carbon emission by trees, the research has cast significant responsibility on the climate models built up by international climate agencies for a relook.
Hiking Carbon Capacity Through Supercharging
Forests and oceans are natural carbon sinks. Their slowdown in the absorption rate of carbon dioxide is linked with its oversupply in the air, which exceeds the pace in which absorption takes place.
To remedy this, scientists at the Max Planck Institute in Germany led by biologist Tobias Erb found a way to expand the carbon dioxide absorption capacity of trees.
This is done by supercharging plants to make them take more carbon dioxide to mitigate the hazards of climate change.
"If you think about plants, they're efficient CO2-fixing filters, but they are not fast," Erb said.
"I think there is a chance to improve existing biology with synthetic biology," he added.
Enzyme Re-Engineering
The team led by Erb identified 17 enzymes from nine organisms and re-engineered three that had higher carbon consumption capacity.
When the enzymes worked jointly, it surpassed the power of plants' natural enzymes in the matter of carbon consumption and showed improved capacity at individual levels.
The results were amazing. In the place of five to 10 molecules of Carbon dioxide consumed per second by existing enzymes, the ones Erb used consumed 80 molecules per second.
So far, the test of enzymes has been in the lab. In the next phase, it will involve real world testing. Then the enzymes would be introduced into plants to see if the same result occurs.
If the supercharging succeeds, it will offer a new tool to fight climate change and protect carbon-absorbing forests and give the option to add super plants by using the enzyme technology.
