Trees may not release the amount of CO₂ expected in a warming climate, study finds

As ever, researchers imply that nature’s carbon cycle is going to struggle to handle slight temperature variations, but past evidence (or lack of opposing evidence) suggests most climate feedbacks are negative.
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New research reveals the amount of carbon dioxide released by trees into the atmosphere under a warming climate could be considerably less than currently predicted, says Phys.org.

Published in Science, the new findings are from an international research team that includes Chief Scientist at Western Sydney University’s Hawkesbury Institute of the Environment, Distinguished Professor Ian Wright.

The research shows the amount of CO2 respiring from tree trunks is not expected to increase as sharply as currently thought under a warming climate.

The findings give scientists important insights for predicting the amount and movement of CO2 in our ecosystems as a result of warming temperatures, and strengthen scientists’ understanding of plant thermal acclimation—the way that plants respond to changes in temperature.

Professor Wright and the international research team studied trees from around the world to measure the rate of carbon dioxide they produce from their stems, known as respiration, and to test the new theory for how respiration rates respond to environmental changes.

Plants and trees respire to make energy to grow, and release carbon dioxide as a by-product. The respiration from their woody stems is a major contributor to the Earth’s annual carbon “flux”—or the rate at which CO2 is added or removed from the atmosphere.

Scientists have long expected that a warming climate will inevitably lead to plants increasing the amount of carbon dioxide they release into the atmosphere—in turn, leading to even more warming. [Talkshop comment – assumption alert].

“This is likely true, but this latest research reveals that carbon fluxes under warmer future climates will not increase as much as currently thought,” said Professor Wright.
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Professor Sandy Harrison from the University of Reading, one of the world’s leading vegetation modelers, said the global discovery has significant implications for how scientists predict global carbon fluxes under future climates.

“These findings give scientists a new approach for assessing the degree to which ecosystems around the globe can slow the rate of warming,” said Professor Harrison.

Full article here.