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Brazil's wetlands cover an area of 167,000 km² and have a carbon density per hectare six times higher than forests. Photo: Thpelin Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported CC BY-SA 3.0 DeedThpelin Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported CC BY-SA 3.0 Deed

Beyond the Amazon: a forgotten carbon reserve in Brazil’s wetlands

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In the Brazilian savanna, wetlands store enormous amounts of carbon, but they are threatened by climate change and agricultural expansion. Moreover, conservation policies, which focus almost exclusively on forests, tend to ignore them
Il riscaldamento globale non cambia solo il paesaggio visibile ma altera profondamente le relazioni invisibili tra piante e funghi nel suolo. Foto: Pexels Free to use

Climate change is disrupting the symbiotic relationship between plants and soil fungi

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A thirty-year experiment in the US shows how rising temperatures are transforming ecosystems internally: the abundance of fungi that are useful to plants is declining, while decomposers are increasing. As a result, soil ecological stability is being disrupted
Peatlands used for paludiculture are home to about three times as many birds as drained grasslands, reaching levels similar to those of natural wetlands. Photo: Melissa McMasters Attribution 2.0 Generic CC BY 2.0 DeedMelissa McMasters Attribution 2.0 Generic CC BY 2.0 Deed

Adapted farming in peatlands is also good for biodiversity

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Peatlands converted to paludiculture support three times as many birds as drained grasslands, with levels similar to those found in natural wetlands, according to a British study
Grasslands currently store about one-third of the planet's terrestrial carbon. However, they are subject to different dynamics and the impact of livestock. Photo: Pxhere CC0 Public Domain Free for personal and commercial use No attribution requiredPxhere CC0 Public Domain Free for personal and commercial use No attribution required

Ending grazing reduces stable carbon levels in grasslands

According to British research, undisturbed grasslands accumulate more fast-cycle carbon in the soil than those with grazing livestock. However, they also have lower levels of stable carbon
In Kerala, in southern India, natural forests store an average of 16.61 grams of carbon per kilogram of soil, compared to 11.82 grams in teak plantations. Photo: Parambikulam Tiger Conservation Foundation Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International CC BY-SA 4.0 DeedPhoto: Parambikulam Tiger Conservation Foundation Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International CC BY-SA 4.0 Deed

Natural forests beat artificial regeneration in carbon sequestration

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In intact forests, soil carbon levels are significantly higher than in areas being restored by tree planting, where higher soil acidity reduces sequestration capacity
According to researchers, trees, forest soils, and dead wood in Germany store a total of 2.2 billion tons of carbon. Photo: © Thünen Institute/Marius Möller press releaseThünen Institute/Marius Möller press release

Forest soil in Germany has offset carbon losses from trees during drought

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The discovery comes from the Thünen Institute: between 2018 and 2020, German forest soil stored more carbon than expected, almost entirely offsetting the losses associated with plant mortality
In highly productive areas, such as tropical and temperate ecosystems, the efficiency of carbon use by microbes decouples from the respiration rate once this exceeds a critical threshold. Photo: pxhere CC0 1.0 Universal CC0 1.0 Deedpxhere CC0 1.0 Universal CC0 1.0 Deed

The connection between microbes and carbon cycle is more complicated than expected

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In some circumstances, a new study explains, microbial respiration, with the resulting release of carbon, can increase even when biomass production remains constant. A factor that must be included in climate projection models
In Southeast Asia, deforestation and land conversion have released more carbon and greenhouse gases than any other activity over the past two decades. Photo: Pok Rie Pexels free to usePok Rie Pexels free to use

Deforestation has made Southeast Asia a net source of carbon

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In the first two decades of the century, according to a Japanese study, the forests in the area released more carbon than they stored. Fires, peatland degradation, and fossil fuels are making things worse
The study has important implications for climate change, as tropical forests are essential carbon sinks for the planet. Photo: pxhere CC0 Public Domain Free for personal and commercial use No attribution requiredPhoto: pxhere CC0 Public Domain Free for personal and commercial use No attribution required

Nitrogen doubles the regeneration speed of tropical forests

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When provided with adequate nitrogen tropical forests can recover from deforestation twice as fast as they would under normal circumstances, a research led by the University of Leeds has found
The surface of ferrihydrite has mixed areas of positive and negative charges, allowing it to attract both negatively charged substances such as phosphates and positively charged substances such as metal ions. Photo: Jerry Bigham Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported CC BY-SA 3.0 DeedJerry Bigham Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported CC BY-SA 3.0 Deed

This is how iron minerals promote soil carbon sequestration

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Iron oxide minerals trap more than a third of the organic carbon in soil. Among them, a study explains, ferrihydrite uses different strategies to capture different compounds

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