A team of ecologists led by Peter Curtis, professor and chair of evolution, ecology and organismal biology at Ohio State University have voided some of the theories about the aging forests and the resultant concern about the continual benefits such as carbon storage to counterbalance greenhouse gas emissions, filtered water, soil fertility and cleansed air.
Peter Curtis. Credit: Ohio State University
The research on evaluating the role of forests in storing carbon has received an additional grant of $1 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to continue their project.
The researchers have found that the new and upcoming younger native trees remain different from the aged ones and aggressive enough to continue carbon storage facility. The forecasting of the researchers is based on the initial results from a project called Forest Accelerated Succession Experiment (FASET) launched in 2008. They have hastened the death of around 7,000 aspen trees spread over 100 acres of area by trimming strips of bark to study the uniqueness of the upcoming trees. Almost 75% of the trees have died and 15% of them have fallen down. The death of the trees enabled the development of a completely different type of forest.
They found that the leaves of new trees utilized light more competently to produce carbohydrates and release oxygen during photosynthesis than the old aspen trees. The researchers utilized advanced instruments to measure nitrogen cycling in the shifting forest and found minimal level of nitrogen loss even after the induced death of large number of trees. They found that the continuous availability of nitrogen in the soil, leaves and tree wood will assist the carbon sink function effectively. Though the removal of aspen trees led to around 10% loss in nitrogen the same was recaptured soon in the form of atmospheric nitrogen through rain.
The researchers have also found that clear cutting of trees along with their roots drains out the nitrogen from the soil because of non-availability of a root system to prevent such loss.