Tree species with highest carbon storage | Statista (2024)

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Tree species with highest carbon storage | Statista? ›

Global plant species with the highest lifelong carbon fixation

Our research also led us to many other trees, some of them are: The Teak Tree, which has the highest carbon sequestration capacity of trees in India. The Yellow Poplar, which can grow under rough conditions.

Grasses like switchgrass and Miscanthus have deep, complex root systems that are ideal for storing carbon in the soil. Their root structures also help stabilize the soil, increase moisture levels, and retain nutrients. As perennial plants, native grasses are able to sequester carbon year-round without releasing it.

Every part of a tree stores carbon, from the trunks, branches, leaves, and roots. By weight, dried tree material is about 50 percent carbon. Trees also release carbon dioxide to the atmosphere as a function of their physiology.

The average fully grown tree will absorb as much as 48 pounds of carbon dioxide, which helps to stabilize our climate and reduce the impacts of climate change. 1 million trees will absorb approximately 24,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year.

One of the best tree species for absorbing carbon is oaks, thanks to their large canopies, dense wood and long lifespans. Other top carbon-absorbing trees include the common horse-chestnut, black Walnut, London plane, and American sweetgum. However, variety is best.

Well, no. In reality, the carbon math is much messier. For one thing, the type and age of the trees matters enormously. Studies of different forests have found that some store not much more than 10 tons of carbon per hectare, while others store well over 1,000.

Because loblolly pine plantations are so extensive and grow so rapidly, they provide a great potential for sequestering atmospheric carbon (C).

Tundra stores enormous amounts of carbon

Tundra is the most efficient per area as a large part of the carbon is stored in the frozen soil. Now, when the poles are melting, also the tundra is threatened by climate change and carbon storage capacity is decreasing rather than increasing.

SEQUESTRATION RATE AND CARBON STORAGE OVER AGE*

Old forests store more carbon but sequester it much more slowly than younger managed forests. As old trees die or are lost to insects, storms, or fire, they release their carbon back to the atmosphere.

Which forest holds the most carbon? ›

The giant redwoods of Northern California, which store seven times as much, are regarded as the most carbon dense forests in the world. The temperate rainforest is a “carbon storage powerhouse,” says John Talberth of the Portland, Ore.

Burning wood is a highly sustainable and environmentally friendly heating method. Burning wood on a high efficiency stove can create less CO2 than letting the same wood rot on the floor of a forest.

The live oak is the most efficient carbon capturing tree, it being able to sequester some 10,994 CO₂ equivalent over its lifetime.

But trees can't absorb enough CO₂ to stop climate change on their own, no matter how many we plant. It's well understood that the carbon dioxide (CO₂) we're emitting into the atmosphere is causing the planet to warm. We also know that trees absorb CO₂.

You Can Mitigate Your Carbon Footprint by Planting Trees.

The average American carbon footprint is 20 Mt CO₂e per year - offset your impact with 40 trees. If you would like a more personalized carbon footprint estimate please visit the Environmental Protection Agency's Carbon Footprint Calculator.

Planes, elms, nettle trees and oaks are the most effective species when it comes to absorbing carbon and pollutants, a study in Milan and Bologna shows.

Tropical rainforests collectively sequester more carbon from the atmosphere than temperate or boreal forests, but they're also increasingly destroyed for agricultural expansion. The world's three largest tropical rainforests are located in the Amazon, Congo River basin and Southeast Asia.

On average, forests store twice as much carbon as they emit, while an estimated 25% of global CO₂ emissions are sequestered alongside forests in other vegetative forms, such as grasslands or rangelands (fields, prairies, shrublands etc.).

Indeed, thee bamboo absorbs 5 times more greenhouse gases and produces 35% more oxygen than an equivalent volume of trees! It has a very important CO2 retention capacity since one hectare of bamboo grove can capture up to 60 tons of CO2 each year. And these are not the only benefits of bamboo!