Vast Savannahs May Slow Climate Change by Storing Carbon

While tropical rainforests store vast amounts of carbon and can help prevent climate change, it turns out there's another ecosystem may also play a huge role. It turns out that savannahs dominate the ongoing increase in carbon sequestration by ecosystems globally, as well as large fluctuations between wet and dry years.

"Understanding the processes responsible for trends and variability of the carbon cycle, and where they occur, provides insight into the future evolution of the carbon sink in a warmer world and the vital role natural ecosystems, and where they occur, provides insight into the future evolution of the carbon sink in a warmer world and the vital role natural ecosystems may play in accelerating or slowing down human-induced climate change," said Anders Ahlstrom, one of the researchers, in a news release.

Tropical rainforests are highly productive, and this means that they take up a lot of carbon dioxide, but rainforests are crowded places with little room to fit more plants to do photosynthesis and store carbon. In addition, the typically moist, hot weather conditions are ideal for growth and do not change from year to year.

Savannahs, though, are different. As productivity increases there is room to fit in more trees whose growing biomass can store carbon.

"The world's semi-arid regions will become even more important in the future as climate variability and extremes increase in a warmer world," said Josep G. Canadell, one of the researchers. "The extensive semi-arid regions of the world are emerging as a growing force in shaping the functioning of our planet."

The findings reveal the importance of protecting savannahs in a warming world. It appears that special attention should be taken in order to put in protections now rather than later.

The findings are published in the journal Science.

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