Selecting Trees for Climate Change
Any tree, or plant for that matter, will help to remove carbon dioxide from the air. But to select the best tree it is important to find out which species will thrive in your region and climate, as well as considering the ability of the species to sequester carbon.
Selecting the best tree for the environment largely depends on your specific region. No matter how effective a tree is at removing carbon, if it can’t thrive on your property it won’t matter. It is very important that a tree is selected to thrive in the specific climate conditions of your site. Do your research and learn about the soil conditions, sun, rainfall, temperature extremes as well as how the climate has already begun to change in your specific region. Which native species have continued to thrive under changing climate and have not become susceptible to damaging pests. If you plant a tree that is not native it may do fine, but if does not grow robustly, fast strong and large, it will not draw and store carbon nearly as well as a native tree species. A non native perhaps will not even reach full maturity.
There are a couple of characteristics that indicate which trees might be best at carbon sequestration. Once sturdy native choices are identified, next compare these characteristics:
A very large tree at maturity will have more space to store carbon
Large trunk diameter
Hard, dense wood
Fast grower, but should be hardwood
Leaves instead of needles
Large dark green leaves
Dense foliage
Great trees to consider to reduce greenhouse gases. These are some of the strongest performers IF they are strong growers in your region:
American Sweetgum
Black Walnut
European Beech
Horse Chestnut
Laurel Oak
Red Mulberry
Red Oak
Scarlet Oak
Yellow Poplar (Tulip Tree)
Needled conifers in generally seem to not be the most effective at absorbing and storing carbon. However when a needled tree grows as large and long as some of our great Norther conifers they can do a great job combating climate change. If you have room on your property you can consider any of these, especially any of the pines:
Bald Cypress
Douglas Fir
Ponderosa Pine
Red Pine
White Pine
In the Upper Midwest five state area (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota) we are already beginning to see some change in the trees that are reliable, even the natives are not always thriving. Pests and problems, including Emerald Ash Borer, Dutch Elm and Japanese Beetle are devastating whole species. Saturated soils are depriving whole forests of roots of oxygen. And rising average temperatures are driving species even further North. We can expect to see a new set of natives for the changed conditions. There is already a little different set of trees recommended by the University of Minnesota Extension Service for planting in this region that are thriving best in the face of these changes.
Amur Baackia
Black Cherry
Black Hills Spruce
Black Walnut
Blue Beech
Bur Oak
Chestnut Crabapple
Chestnut Oak
Eastern Red Cedar
Hackberry
Ironwood
Jack Pine
Katsura
Kentucky Coffee
Northern Catalpa
Northern White Cedar
Pagoda Dogwood
Ponderosa Pine
Prairie Expedition Elm
Red Maple
River Birch
Service Berry
Shingle Oak
Siouxland Poplar
Tulip Tree
White Pine
London Plane Tree
Unfortunately, in the colder northern regions, our big hardwoods grow very slowly. This does somewhat hinder the effectiveness of our trees to take carbon out of the air. But if we try to include planting of trees that fix nitrogen and improve the soil, that improved soil will naturally aide the growth of our carbon fixing trees. And do take special care of the tree while it is young and growing quickly to ensure that it does grow large and strong.
Fortunately there is much work being done to work on hybrid trees that will take up more carbon as well as resist pests and disease. We need to watch for those hybrids as they are developed and tested also. In the meantime, keep planting those trees. It DOES make a difference!