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'Treethane': A New Frontier in the Global Carbon Cycle?

This customer video summarizes some of the research being conducted by the Southern Cross University Geoscience team and Dr. Luke Jeffrey, investigating methane emissions from tree stems. For more information, check out our blog

"Methane is a potent greenhouse gas - about 34 times more powerful at warming Earth's atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Natural methane emissions from tree stems have only recently gained research momentum, representing an overlooked but potentially significant source of atmospheric methane and have been referred to as 'a new frontier in the global carbon cycle' (Barba et al, 2019).  The findings of this line of research will better inform land managers, decision-makers and global carbon budgets in ways to maximise carbon sequestration in forests, yet mitigate unwanted methane emissions. This research is funded by Southern Cross University, Southern Cross Geoscience and the Australian Research Council." 

Filmed and edited by Mike Calvino (http://www.mikecalvino.com/)

Barba, J., Bradford, M.A., Brewer, P.E., Bruhn, D., Covey, K., van, Haren, J., Megonigal, J., Mikkelsen, T.N., Pangala, S.R., Pihlatie, M., Poulter, B., Rivas‐Ubach, A., Schadt, C.W., Terazawa, K., Warner, D.L., Zhang, Z. and Vargas, R. (2019), Methane emissions from tree stems: a new frontier in the global carbon cycle. New Phytol, 222: 18-28. doi:10.1111/nph.15582