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Updated: Oct 31, 2025

A CO2 Concentration Gradient Facility for Testing CO2 Enrichment and Soil Effects on Grassland Ecosystem Function
Published on: November 21, 2015
Carbon concentration in the world's trees across climatic gradients
Nicholas J Paroshy1, Mahendra Doraisami2, Rosalyn Kish2
1Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada.
Abstract:
Wood carbon (C) concentration is a key wood trait that varies widely among tree species, but our understanding of the factors governing this trait is limited, despite reason to hypothesize that wood C varies systematically across environmental gradients. We compiled a novel database of 1145 geo-referenced wood C observations from 415 species, to elucidate climate correlates of wood C concentrations, and test if these relationships differ across tissue types and major taxonomic divisions (i.e. angiosperms vs gymnosperms). Climate variables, including mean annual temperature (MAT) and precipitation and temperature seasonality, are significantly correlated with wood C concentrations. Relationships between wood C and these variables differ across tissue types and taxonomic divisions, yet there is a negative relationship between wood C and MAT that exists across all tissues and species groups. Wood C concentrations in trees are influenced by climate, with experimental evidence (albeit scant) indicating that climate-driven changes in lignin concentrations likely govern these relationships. Our study presents among the first lines of evidence indicating that wood C concentrations are correlated with environmental conditions, thereby enhancing our understanding of the potential adaptive significance of wood C variation in trees.
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