Certain fig trees in Kenya are doing more than providing sweet fruit; they're quietly locking harmful carbon pollution away for the long haul by turning it into stone.
According to SciTechDaily, researchers from Kenya, the U.S., Austria, and Switzerland discovered that species like Ficus wakefieldii use a process called the oxalate-carbonate pathway to transform carbon dioxide from the air into calcium carbonate, the same mineral found in limestone.
These stone-like deposits form both inside the tree trunks and in the surrounding soil, creating a long-term storage method far more durable than the carbon stored in wood or leaves.
"This pathway could be a significant, underexplored opportunity to help mitigate CO2 emissions," said Dr. Mike Rowley, senior lecturer at the University of Zurich, who presented the findings at the Goldschmidt geochemistry conference in Prague.
Most trees absorb carbon and store it as organic matter. One USDA report found that roughly 11% of the United States' carbon pollution is absorbed by the nation's forests. But that carbon can be released back into the atmosphere when the tree dies or burns.
By turning carbon into stone, these fig trees keep it locked away for potentially centuries, all while producing food and enriching the soil around them. Calcium carbonate also makes the soil more alkaline, which can improve its fertility and benefit surrounding crops.
Using synchrotron analysis at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, scientists confirmed that the calcium carbonate was not just coating the outside of trunks but was also forming deeper within the wood. Microbes play a key role, converting calcium oxalate crystals into calcium carbonate as they break down parts of the tree.
So far, research into this process has mostly focused on non-fruit tropical trees, like the iroko tree, which can store up to a ton of calcium carbonate over its lifetime. But the discovery in fruit-bearing species like Ficus wakefieldii means that agroforestry could pull double duty: producing food and locking carbon away in rock form.
The research team now plans to study how much CO2 these trees can store under different growing conditions, as well as their water needs and fruit yields. If results hold up, farmers could one day choose tree species for both their harvest and their ability to tackle harmful carbon pollution.
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