A new international study demonstrated the importance of nitrogen in tropical forests, a determining element for doubling the speed of their recovery after deforestation.
The analysis, conducted at the University of Leeds, UK, revealed that this nutrient accelerates tree growth and enhances carbon capture.
The research coordinated the largest experimental monitoring on ecological restoration conducted to date.
The scientific team included specialists from:
- Yale;
- Glasgow;
- Princeton;
- Cornell;
- the National University of Singapore;
- the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and;
- the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies.
The work was developed over 20 years in 76 plots of different tropical forests in Central America, including areas like Agua Salud in Panama. There, researchers evaluated the growth and mortality of trees under different conditions of nutrients and fertilizers, including nitrogen.
Nitrogen doubles the recovery of tropical forests in the first decade
The results showed that nitrogen makes a substantial difference in the restoration of tropical forests.
In the first 10 years after deforestation, plots with sufficient nitrogen achieved a forest recovery twice as fast as those with low levels of the nutrient.
“Our study is relevant because it suggests that it is possible to accelerate the capture and storage of greenhouse gases through restoration if we properly manage the nutrients available to trees,” explained Dr. Wenguang Tang, the study’s lead author.
The global lack of nitrogen could be limiting the annual capture of up to 690 million tons of carbon dioxide. This amount is equivalent to the emissions of two years in the United Kingdom.
The key: creating ecological strategies without chemical fertilizers
As a conclusion of the study, scientists discouraged the intensive use of chemical fertilizers in tropical forests due to the risk of increasing nitrous oxide emissions, a potent greenhouse gas. Instead, they recommended prioritizing more sustainable ecological methods that generate nitrogen.
The proposed alternatives include:
- Planting leguminous trees capable of naturally fixing nitrogen
- Selecting areas whose soils already have adequate levels of nitrogen due to atmospheric pollution
- Proper nutrient management to enhance the function of forests as carbon sinks
These strategies allow for reducing environmental risks and promote a more sustainable forest restoration.
Thus, the management of nitrogen in tropical forests can be crucial to improving their carbon capture capacity.
The relevance of the study after COP 30
The study gained international relevance after the recent COP 30 held in Brazil.
At that meeting, the “Tropical Forest Forever Facility” fund was presented to promote the restoration of tropical forests.
If the restoration policies and funded programs by this fund consider the appropriate management of nitrogen, significant advances could be made in the reduction of greenhouse gases in the coming years.
Dr. Sarah Batterman, the lead researcher at the university, emphasized that these experimental results directly influence how tropical forests are understood and managed as natural solutions to the climate challenge.
The authors insisted that the protection of mature tropical forests must remain the priority.
Ecological restoration based on the management of nitrogen in tropical forests offers a complementary pathway to maximize the carbon capture potential on a global scale.
