Yesterday, I logged in on the latest Secret Science Club Zoom lecture featuring Dr Thomas Crowther of Zurich's Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and director of the Crowtherlab. Dr Crowther is also involved in the developing RESTOR open data platform.
In his Zoom lecture, Dr Crowther spoke mainly about forest restoration, and its implications in carbon capture. He began with a video by NASA's Goddard Center depicting a model of a yearly global carbon cycle:
As the plants regrow leaves in the Spring, the atmospheric CO2 levels go down- carbon is sequestered in the biosphere. While a tree can capture a large amount of carbon in its woody tissue and leaves, most of the carbon it captures is underground, in the microbes, fungi, and minute animals (such as nematodes) that live among the tree's roots.
A lot of what we know about the amount of trees was obtained using satellite imagery, but this is inadequate, as satellites cannot penetrate the forest canopy. A more accurate number must be obtained by researchers on the ground- the current estimate is that the world is home to three trillion trees, seven times the amount tallied using satellite images. This information led to the creation of the Trillion Trees project, which identifies optimal sites for reforestation, with the goal of planting... you guessed it... a trillion trees. Dr Crowther had beautiful maps of the regions which are most promising for reforestation- mainly areas on the margins of existing forests which have been extensively logged. He also noted that the maps needed to be corrected, with old maps showing trees on the unforested Faroes and omitting trees in Vatican City.
While deforestation is a global problem, it is also a local problem, and local populations must be included in any ecological restoration projects. The right trees must be planted in the right places, and trees which have agricultural uses are particularly attractive to avoid a 'pay landholder to plant trees which get cut down so the landholder can get paid to plant trees again' model.
Forests aren't the only important biome, savannahs/grasslands and wetlands/peatlands also sequester a significant amount of carbon dioxide. The treeless tundra of the north captures a lot of carbon, and the soil biodiversity is even greater than that of tropical forests.
Dr Crowther accompanied his lecture with outstanding graphics- the maps were extremely informative, the different graphs and video models were beautiful. When the video becomes available, I will post it. I actually watched the video at work (I arrived an hour and a half early to watch it, finishing right when I had to punch in), on the edge of a wooded area, under the shade of a black walnut tree. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take good notes under the circumstances, but was able to capture the gist of the lecture in this post. Again, the video component of the lecture was an integral part, so the recap falls a little flat without it.
The lecture was followed with a Q&A session. Some bastard in the audience asked about the roles played by invasive species. Dr Crowther indicated that his lab was preparing a paper on invasives- invasive species are most common in coastal areas near ports. In marginal areas, such as deserts, invasive species benefit from being ecologically similar to native species. In more abundant areas, invasive species benefit from being ecologically different, able to exploit novel ecological niches.
At any rate, here is a video of Dr Crowther taking about ecological restoration,
Pour yourself a beverage, and soak in that SCIENCE!
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