Wildfire and post-fire recovery could lead to more carbon being stored than released in the long term in savannahs and grasslands, according to a new study involving the University of East Anglia (UEA).
Wildfire and post-fire recovery could lead to more carbon being stored than released in the long term in savannahs and grasslands, according to a new study involving the University of East Anglia (UEA).
The findings, published in Nature Geoscience, suggest that there is far stronger potential for cycles of fire and recovery to increase soil carbon stocks in these areas than in forests. This is significant as around 70% of the area burned globally by fires each year occurs in savannahs.
In contrast, forest fires were found to be a clear source of carbon in the atmosphere over the period studied because losses of vegetation carbon could not feasibly be offset by increases in the storage of charcoal in soils.
The study authors argue that attempts to account for the complete impacts of wildfires on the carbon cycle need to include a variety of post-fire processes that affect carbon stocks on land in the long-term, including the storage of charcoal in soils.
Read more at University of East Anglia
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