Carbon capture is substantial in secondary tropical forests
http://newsstand.clemson.edu/mediarelations/carbon-capture-is-substantial-in-secondary-tropical-forests/[font face=Serif][font size=5]Carbon capture is substantial in secondary tropical forests[/font]
Media Release
Clinton Colmenares, Media Relations
May 13, 2016
[font size=3]CLEMSON, South Carolina One of the most effective methods for capturing carbon from the atmosphere in the tropics of Latin America requires doing very little. In fact, researchers say, just protecting natural forest regrowth can help reduce climate change.
A study published May 13 in
Science Advances, shows that when land is left to regrow after forests have been cleared, these secondary forests could play a substantial role in removing carbon from the air even without costly tree plantings or promotion of land abandonment.
However, the practice of protecting regrowing forests has been overlooked by policy-makers and global organizations aimed at reducing climate change.
The mantra has been, we need to protect old-growth forests, said Saara DeWalt, an author of the study and an associate professor of biological sciences at Clemson University. Protection of old-growth forests, which store substantial amounts of carbon, is absolutely needed, but we need to look to secondary-forest protection as well.
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http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/5/e1501639.full