A trillion trees: carbon capture or fuelling fires?

Nicola Stevens; William J Bond

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2023.09.015

A trillion trees: carbon capture or fuelling fires?

Trends Ecol Evol. 2024 Jan;39(1):1-4. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2023.09.015. Epub 2023 Oct 14.

Authors

Nicola Stevens¹, William J Bond²

Affiliations

¹ Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Centre for African Ecology, School of Animal, Plant, and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa. Electronic address: nicola.stevens@ouce.ox.ac.uk.
² Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; South African Environmental Observation Network, National Research Foundation, Claremont, South Africa.

PMID: 37845119
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2023.09.015

Abstract

Afforesting grassy systems for carbon gain using flammable plantation trees could shift the fire regime from lower intensity grass-fuelled fires to high-intensity crown fires. Future changes in climate will worsen this. We highlight the fire risk of trees planted for carbon and costs of fire protection using African examples.

Keywords: afforestation; crown fire; megafire; tree planting; trillion trees.

MeSH terms

Carbon
Ecosystem
Fires*
Forecasting
Trees*

Substances

Carbon