By Susan Milius
A novel carbon-tracking method offers scientists a way to solve one of the big mysteries of what forests do with their enormous flows of carbon, according to an international research team.
The technique, in which researchers strip a ring of bark off trees, reveals that tree photosynthesis drives much of the flow of carbon dioxide from forest soil, says Peter Högberg of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Ume. Most soil-respiration models ignore that factor, he adds.