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0 pointsquixoticelixer-6y ago0 comments

They don't really ever change to be net emmitters, and it takes a long time for them to stop absorbing carbon ( a few hundred years)

0 comments

benj1116y ago

Do you have a source? Because you're directly contradicting the article.

aukust6y ago

Anecdotal evidence suggests to me that European spruce stores more CO2 than it sheds way over 80 years old as a spruce grows in mass significantly decades after reaching that age.

However here is a study that tries to bring some light to carbon pools on over-mature 167-213 year-old trees: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/9/7/435/pdf

bryanlarsen6y ago

Anecdotal evidence tells me that spruce trees are really good at suppressing undergrowth due to their acidic needless so claiming a mature first is a net emitter makes sense to me. The trees may be growing, but nothing else is.

garmaine6y ago

You don’t need a source. To be a net emitter the tree would have to be losing mass. That’s not what healthy trees do, even old ones.

I believe the article might have been trying to say is that trees tend to die and decompose (or burn) which makes them carbon emitters.

benj1116y ago

You're talking about individual trees though.

Theres plenty of mechanisms where the individual trees grow, but the forest holds less carbon.

The linked article [1] mentions forest fires and insect infestations.

[1] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/canada-forests-carbon...

garmaine6y ago

I other words, trees dying...

1 more reply

Robotbeat6y ago

That’s not true. Methane is a significantly more potent greenhouse gas than CO2, so if the tree is absorbing CO2 but the decomposing needles and leaves are emitting methane, it could easily be a net GHG emitter.

garmaine6y ago

Trees don’t produce CH4 (except in decomposition).

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jefftk6y ago

If a tree keeps growing, but also gets more successful at suppressing growth of it's neighbors, then it can be a net emitter overall even though it's a net absorber considered individually.

quixoticelixer-OP6y ago

Wardle, P. (1991). Vegetation of New Zealand. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

If I have time tomorrow i'll find the page.

benj1116y ago

Is it possible we're talking about different things? You talking about individual trees and the article talking about forests as a whole.

quixoticelixer-OP6y ago

No, if anything individual trees do start to become emitter as they age due to low growth and decay, how ever in forests old dying trees are quickly replaced by new ones.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

benj1116y ago

Do you have a source? Because you're directly contradicting the article.

aukust6y ago

Anecdotal evidence suggests to me that European spruce stores more CO2 than it sheds way over 80 years old as a spruce grows in mass significantly decades after reaching that age.

However here is a study that tries to bring some light to carbon pools on over-mature 167-213 year-old trees: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/9/7/435/pdf

bryanlarsen6y ago

garmaine6y ago

You don’t need a source. To be a net emitter the tree would have to be losing mass. That’s not what healthy trees do, even old ones.

I believe the article might have been trying to say is that trees tend to die and decompose (or burn) which makes them carbon emitters.

benj1116y ago

You're talking about individual trees though.

Theres plenty of mechanisms where the individual trees grow, but the forest holds less carbon.

The linked article [1] mentions forest fires and insect infestations.

[1] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/canada-forests-carbon...

garmaine6y ago

I other words, trees dying...

1 more reply

Robotbeat6y ago

garmaine6y ago

Trees don’t produce CH4 (except in decomposition).

1 more reply

jefftk6y ago

If a tree keeps growing, but also gets more successful at suppressing growth of it's neighbors, then it can be a net emitter overall even though it's a net absorber considered individually.

quixoticelixer-OP6y ago

Wardle, P. (1991). Vegetation of New Zealand. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

If I have time tomorrow i'll find the page.

benj1116y ago

Is it possible we're talking about different things? You talking about individual trees and the article talking about forests as a whole.

quixoticelixer-OP6y ago

No, if anything individual trees do start to become emitter as they age due to low growth and decay, how ever in forests old dying trees are quickly replaced by new ones.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse