The study, published in The Journal Nature, looked at the growth rates of hundreds of thousands of trees across hundreds of species.
It found that a tree’s growth rate increases with its size, in some cases adding the mass of a small tree every year.
That has huge implications for the amount of carbon dioxide an older tree can absorb.
“One of the analogies I use is if you’re managing a sports team, you’ve got to know who your star players are." says forest ecologist Nathan Stephenson with the USGS, and the study’s lead author.
"This would be the equivalent of discovering that your 90-year-old players are the stars of the team," he says.
Stephenson says it’s important to note that old trees also die, so the absorption rate of carbon doesn’t necessarily translate into a net increase in carbon storage for an entire forest. An international team of researchers analyzed trees across six continents as part of the study.
This April 2013 photo shows giant sequoia trees dwarfing a visitor in Merced Grove in Yosemite National Park in California. Sequoias are among the largest, oldest trees on earth. Kathy Matheson / AP
July 23, 2018Two nights of aerial spraying to reduce the number of mosquitoes testing positive for West Nile virus are scheduled to begin Monday in parts of Elk Grove, the Pocket Neighborhood and neighborhoods south of Fruitridge Road.
.jpg "Tahoe Environmental Research Center boat captain Brant Allen lowers a Secchi disk from the research vessel into Lake Tahoe. The disk has been used for more than 50 years to measure water clarity at the lake.")
June 13, 2018If you spent time on the water at Lake Tahoe last year and thought it looked a lot cloudier, you're right. UC Davis researchers say extreme weather — drought followed by heavy rains — caused clarity in 2017 to drop to its lowest recorded level.
.jpg "A million fall run Chinook salmon smolts, who were raised at the Feather River Hatchery, are released from large tanks down a long pipe on a dock and out into the Sacramento River.")
May 3, 2018The fish took a ride in a large truck on Wednesday morning and are now headed down the river on a journey to the ocean.
March 8, 2018Using this new approach to calculate the snow’s water content also means improved forecasts for farms and cities, and even positive benefits for renewable-energy production. The program soon could go statewide — if it gets funded.
March 5, 2018(AP) — Monday's snow survey found a "much rosier" picture than before last week's heavy winter storm, but still less than half the usual snow for this point in the season.
Follow us for more stories like this
CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you. As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.
Donate Today
