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Environment

Trees have an extra climate benefit thanks to methane-eating microbes

Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is converted to CO2 by microbes in tree bark, meaning trees are even better for the climate than we thought

By Madeleine Cuff

24 July 2024

Manu National Park in Peru, where some measurements were taken for the study

Vincent Gauci

Microbes living in the bark of trees are absorbing methane from the air, making trees about 10 per cent better for the climate than previously thought.

Methane is a greenhouse gas that is responsible for about a quarter of human-caused global warming.

Scientists have already shown that some trees growing in water-logged soils can emit methane that was generated underground. But the presence of methane-eating microbes known as methanotrophs in tree bark suggests trees could also be a net sink for atmospheric methane.

Methanotrophs consume methane…

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