Soils In Old-Growth Treetops Can Store More Carbon Than Soils Under Our Feet
Published:03 Jan.2022    Source:American Geophysical Union

New research reveals a previously underappreciated way old-growth forests have been recycling and storing carbon: treetop soils. Branches in forest canopies can hold caches of soil that may store substantially more carbon than soils on the ground beneath them, and scientists are just beginning to understand how much carbon canopy soils -- which exist on every continent except Antarctica -- could store.

 
The new research on these unique soils, being presented on Wednesday, 15 December at AGU Fall Meeting 2021, marks the first attempt to quantify carbon capture by canopy soils. The work highlights another way old-growth forests are rich, complex ecosystems that cannot be quickly replaced by replanting forests.