While all trees can mitigate climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide, some have another trick under the sleeve that allows them to convert the CO2 into stone. Recent research has shown that certain species of fig trees that grow in Kenya specialize in this hidden talent, which can give CO2 storage efforts an additional impulse.
New research, which will be presented this week at the Goldschmidt geochemistry conference in Prague, focuses on improving C02 kidnapping. Since some fig trees can save the atmospheric CO2 as “rocks” on the surrounding soil, they show potential to become an unexpected icon for climate change strategies.
Convert carbon dioxide into stone
Every time the trees are involved in the climate change dialogue, they are usually raised by their ability to eliminate carbon from the air and use it to create oxygen during photosynthesis. One Study 2023 Estimated that global forests could capture hypothetically around “226 carbon gigatons in regions with a low human footprint if they were allowed to recover.”
Many conversations about the recovery of the forest, therefore, have this kidnapping of organic carbon at the forefront. Inorganic carbon kidnapping, on the other hand, has not won almost the same traction.
This is likely because the kidnapping of inorganic carbon is not something that each tree is capable of doing. Only certain trees can use CO2 to create calcium oxalate crystals, the first step in a process called oxalate carbonate route. When the parts of these trees decline, fungi and microbial communities convert the crystals into calcium carbonate, the primary ingredient that constitutes the limestone and chalk.
In some cases, Termites It even helps this process to reach fruition by transporting fallen leaves to their mounds, where microbes convert carbon into calcium carbonate and store it underground.
Read more: The trees do not like to breathe smoke from forest fires and endure their breath to avoid it
Fight climate change with fig trees
When carbon in some trees becomes calcium carbonate, the pH of the ground around the tree increases. Researchers say that this form of inorganic carbon could be a great help for kidnapping C02, since it lasts much more on the ground than organic carbon.
The research team identified three species of fig trees cultivated in Kenya, some of the first fruit trees shown to achieve the oxalate carbonate path. They discovered that calcium carbonate was forming outside the trunks of the trees and also deeper inside the wood.
“As calcium carbonate is formed, the ground around the tree becomes more alkaline,” said Mike Rowley, a biogeochemist from the University of Zurich that will present the investigation, in a press statement. “Calcium carbonate is formed on both the surface of the tree and within the wooden structures, probably as microorganisms break down the crystals on the surface and also penetrate more deeply into the tree. It shows that the inorganic carbon is being kidnapped more deeply into the wood than we think earlier.”
Plants with purpose
One of the fig species, Ficus WakefieldiiIt was particularly effective to kidnap C02. Researchers plan to perform more tests to determine how well this tree can store CO2 in different environments.
Research on the oxalate carbonate road has focused mainly on topical environments and trees that do not produce food, such as the Iroko tree on the west coast of Africa. According to researchers, this tree can “kidnap a ton of calcium carbonate on the ground during your life.”
The researchers suggest that there are probable that there are broad unexplored opportunities for the kidnapping of inorganic carbon, since calcium oxalate is a highly abundant biomineral produced by many plants, and microorganisms that facilitate their conversion to calcium carbonate are also generated.
Planting more fig trees, the dangerous consequences of Carbon emissions Potentially it could be moistened. And in this case, the fruits of kidnapping C02 can be even sweeter.
Read more: The western medium of US forests doubled in carbon storage during Holocene
Article Sources
Our writers in Discovermagazine.com Use studies reviewed by pairs and high quality sources for our articles, and our editors review to obtain scientific precision and editorial standards. Check the sources used below for this article:
Jack Knudson is an assistant discover editor with great interest in the science and history of the environment. Before joining Discover in 2023, he studied journalism at the College of Communication scripps at the University of Ohio and previously admitted to Reycling Today magazine.
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