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"Not all trees are equal. A big tree has much more carbon in it than a small tree," Goulden said. "For every large tree that is lost, you would need 50 or more small trees to offset that amount of carbon. As a result there's actually a net loss of carbon from those forests." Large trees can't compete well against the small trees in periods of drought, Goulden explained, which are inevitable in the west. "It's the fires that thin out the small trees, and it's having the small trees thinned out that allows the big trees to make it through dry periods," he explained. The findings may be specific to western forests of certain types where drought is common. For instance, David Wardle at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences said that his studies have found the opposite for Swedish boreal forests. But the findings could have implications for forest management. "If someone wanted to manage the forest to maximize the amount of carbon they could obtain, what you want to do most is maintain those big trees," Goulden said. The work is also important for researchers trying to understand the carbon budget. While this finding is significant, it won't change the entire budget, Houghton said. "I don't think anyone supposed this would be a big proportion of the sink, but it was a piece," he said. Goulden is proud to be able to have used the impressive data set collected long ago. "I just imagine these guys riding horses around and recording these data," Goulden said. "I'm sure the guys never thought it would be useful for this." Related Links: Jessica Marshall's Discovery News blog: EnvironMental Case Weislander Vegetation Type Mapping Library site for Vegetation Type Mapping project |
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