Tropical rainforests store 25%-40% of global soil carbon, though they occupy only 7% of Earth’s land area. By functioning as a carbon sink, tropical forests prevent more severe effects from climate change.
Tropical rainforests store 25%-40% of global soil carbon, though they occupy only 7% of Earth’s land area. By functioning as a carbon sink, tropical forests prevent more severe effects from climate change.
A research team led by a Colorado State University scientist found that climate change will impact tropical forests’ ability to store carbon. Their study reveals that persistent drying in tropical forests, an anticipated result of climate change, leads to carbon loss from the most fertile soils – and that soil nutrients play an important role in how much carbon is released and when.
“Tropical forests can be really sensitive to reductions in rainfall,” said Daniela Cusack, lead author and an associate professor in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, “and they have some of the largest stores of carbon on Earth. As climate is drying, that carbon is vulnerable.”
Read more at: Colorado State University
iew of one of the rainforests studied by CSU researcher Daniela Cusack, as seen from a motorboat on the Panama Canal. Researchers had to access the forests in the study by boat. (Photo Credit: Daniela Cusack)
