ARS Study - Gypsy Moth Infestation Enought To Change Affected Forests From Carbon Sink To Source

[hatrack]

EDIT

In the summer of 2006, the team measured tree sap flow and leaf-level photosynthetic gas exchange at different canopy levels in a stand of oaks and pines in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. These data were used to calibrate the 4C-A model to simulate the amount of carbon the tree canopy absorbs and releases into the atmosphere via photosynthesis and respiration. Results from the calibrated model-which were within 15 percent of estimates from three other techniques-indicated that the average seasonal carbon absorption of the stand was around 1,240 grams of carbon per square meter of canopy area.

The scientists then used the 4C-A model to estimate seasonal carbon exchange rates for 2007, when the same stand of trees was completely defoliated for 2 to 3 weeks during an infestation of gypsy moths. This infestation occurred when the stand was at its seasonal peak for carbon uptake.

The model showed that after the gypsy moths had finished foraging, the average carbon absorption rates for the growing season dropped 25 percent to around 940 grams of carbon per square meter of canopy area. This decline meant that the stand was no longer a net carbon "sink"-it ended up adding more carbon back to the atmosphere than it had absorbed.

According to the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. forests absorb and store about 750 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year. Managing forest resources to optimize carbon sequestration is essential in mitigating the effects of climate change.

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Model_Predicts_Shifts_In_Carbon_Absorption_By_Forest_Canopies_999.html

[amborin]

1. hope developers don't get their hands on this article

[Warpy]

2. Hardly surprising

Gypsy moths strip trees bare of foliage. Those things are Satanic. They're more awful than you can ever imagine if you haven't seen them in action.

They were epidemic in New England in the early 80s. Some streets would be black with the damned caterpillars. Anywhere there were trees, their droppings sounded like hard rain.

I despise aerial spraying, but I cheered the choppers spraying BT when they finally arrived, anything to make it stop. Unfortunately, they always sprayed too late, after the caterpillars had defoliated everything and they were starting to turn into moths, ready to mate and lay eggs for the next year.

That the little bastards contribute to global warning is no surprise to me.