Tree Respondance to High CO2 Concentrations Measurements

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Tree Respondance to High CO2 Concentrations Measurements

The sci-fi forest is designed to measure, in controlled conditions, the amount of carbon dioxide trees can take. This will help understand what we can expect in the future, since the CO2 production is on the rise.

35oZIZB.jpgThe experiment is done in the Staffordshire forest in an outdoor lab with trees in extremely high CO2 concentrations.

The goal is to establish how forests will respond to high levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, which are predicted by the middle of the 21st century.

It is yet unknown how the intake of CO2 of trees affects the climate.

Trees and other plants take the CO2 from the atmosphere and use it and water in the process of photosynthesis to create oxygen and sugars which are used for plant nutrition.

Trees take the CO2, that would otherwise remain in the atmosphere and contribute to warming the planet.

It is estimated that between 1/3 and 1/4 of carbon from fossil fuels is stored by trees.

The question is how long the trees will mitigate the climate change effects with the concentration rise of CO2.

Scientists have probably underestimated the ability of trees to take up and store carbon, but rising temperatures or other factors may influence the tree carbon intake.

This experiment is one of 4 in different countries, but the firs one in Europe.

It also analyzes the effect of CO2 on the entire ecosystem - leaves, soil, insects and diseases.

It is presumed that mature trees may adapt to high CO2 concentrations and reduce their pores, making them more drought-tolerant.

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