Tree bark can remove methane from the atmosphere

Forests provide even more climate benefits than previously thought, say researchers

Tree bark can remove methane gases from the atmosphere, a study has found, providing an additional benefit in tackling climate change.
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that is 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over its 20-year lifespan in the atmosphere.
Researchers led by the University of Birmingham found that microbes within tree bark or in the wood itself actually remove methane as well as carbon dioxide.
The finding means trees are 10 per cent more beneficial for the climate than previously thought, the researchers calculated.
Trees may be just as important for removing methane as soil, which was previously thought to be the main sink for the greenhouse gas, the researchers said.
Methane, which largely comes from livestock and oil and gas use, is responsible for about 30 per cent of global warming, although it is relatively short-lived in the atmosphere.
Its removal could therefore have a significant impact in reducing the pace of climate change, and researchers fear deforestation has led to increased concentrations of methane.
Vincent Gauci, a professor at the University of Birmingham and the lead researcher on the study, said: “The main ways in which we consider the contribution of trees to the environment is through absorbing carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and storing it as carbon.
“These results, however, show a remarkable new way in which trees provide a vital climate service.
“The Global Methane Pledge, launched in 2021 at the Cop26 climate change summit, aims to cut methane emissions by 30 per cent by the end of the decade. Our results suggest that planting more trees and reducing deforestation surely must be important parts of any approach towards this goal.”
Researchers looked at trees across upland tropical, temperate and boreal forests, including Wytham Woods in Oxfordshire, the Amazon and coniferous forest in Sweden.
Methane absorption was strongest in tropical forests, which researchers said was likely because the microbes thrive in warm, wet conditions.
“Tree woody surfaces add a third dimension to the way life on Earth interacts with the atmosphere, and this third dimension is teeming with life and with surprises”, said co-author Yadvinder Malhi of the University of Oxford.
As part of the research, the scientists also calculated that if all the bark from all the trees of the world were laid flat, the area would be equal to the Earth’s land surface.
The study was published in the journal Nature.