Carbon dioxide absorption by plants restricted from limited nitrogen

New research indicates a relationship between the amount of carbon dioxide plants can store and availability of nitrogen in soil. Plants need a certain amount of nitrogen to store carbon, and deficits in nitrogen exist in most areas of the world for vegetation.

These findings suggest that potential carbon storage by vegetation may have been overestimated in the past and climate change is a greater threat than predicted, because most climate models used for analysis do not include nitrogen availability.

Authors of the study, Ying-Ping Wang of both the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organization (CSIRO) and Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research (CAWCR) and Benjamin Z. Houlton of California-Davis, recommend their findings to the IPCC so nitrogen and carbon cycle interactions will be considered in the future when discussing climate change.

Full story: Science Daily