Plants release more carbon dioxide into atmosphere than expected

The study shows that as global temperatures increase, the amount of carbon dioxide released through plant respiration will increase significantly. A new study involving ANU and international collaborators has found plants release more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere through respiration than expected, and the problem will worsen with climate change. Professor Owen Atkin from ANU said the study revealed that the release of carbon dioxide by plant respiration around the world is up to 30 per cent higher than previously predicted. He said the carbon dioxide released by plants every year was now estimated to be about 10 to 11 times the emissions from human activities, rather than the previous estimate of five to eight times. "The study shows that as global temperatures increase, the amount of carbon dioxide released through plant respiration will increase significantly," said Professor Atkin from the Research School of Biology and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology at ANU. The research is published . ANU collaborated with the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in the United Kingdom, Western Sydney University and several other leading institutions from the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand.