BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – It’s common knowledge that living trees and plants absorb carbon, aiding climate change mitigation. However, new research from the University of Vermont suggests that dead trees may be unsung heroes in the effort to reduce climate-warming carbon.
UVM researchers found that large, downed trees in streams tie up tremendous stores of carbon, reflecting the environmental value of old-growth trees.
The work was done in the White Mountains and Adirondacks after researchers wondered what impact the logs had on the environment.
“We were interested in plugging a gap in our understanding of what we call global carbon budgets — so ways in which carbon moves in and out of the atmosphere — and this turned out to be a sizeable gap that we were able to plug,” said Bill Keeton, a forest ecosystem researcher at UVM.
They say many mature New England forests are still recovering from mass logging in the 19th and 20th centuries and that they’ll continue to accumulate carbon for decades to come.
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