In recent years, the escalating impact of global warming has prompted efforts to reverse troubling trends, often by planting trees to capture and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it. New research from a team led by Young Zhou, from the Quinney College of Natural Resources and the Ecology Center, shows that, in addition to trees, humble grasses also play an essential role in capturing carbon -- more important than previously thought.
The team, which included scientists from Yale University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of Cape Town, Texas A&M, Kruger National Park, Harvard University, and University of Oregon, conducted a comprehensive study investigating the contribution of grasses to carbon content in savannas soils and assessed the potential impact of increasing tree cover in tropical savannas on soil carbon storage.
"This underscores the nuanced nature of increasing tree cover on the dynamics of carbon in savanna soils," Zhou said."On average, the increase in soil carbon storage resulting from the expansion of tree cover across tropical savannas is negligible.", which demonstrated that increasing tree cover due to fire suppression led to increased carbon storage in woody biomass, but did not affect soil carbon storage.
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