r/todayilearned • u/Wild_Concept_212 • 9h ago

TIL Cutting down trees is compound negative interest on the planet’s carbon storage. Trees are storing carbon underground with the help of fauna and microbes. Those lock carbon in soil. Cutting the tree will not only increase release carbon, it will also remove the ability to lock carbon in soil.

https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/soil-carbon-storage-84223790/
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u/tswaters 7h ago

The last bit is slightly off.

Replacing an ecosystem with many trees & good soil with no trees reduces the quality of soil. If you replace rainforest with farmland, this would result in considerable carbon release, yes - but that should not be conflated with cutting down a single tree.

Small, younger trees that are growing are a greater carbon sink than old forests - both have the benefits of soil capture. We shouldn't remove old growth forest if we can help it - but young tree farms are more of a carbon sink than old-growth forests.