The "elders" of the tree world grow much faster than the young saplings, and could play important roles in atmospheric carbon removal.
The researchers analyzed over 600,000 trees from 403 species, to make their conclusion, a Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute news release reported. The researchers found older trees could be important players in the fight against climate change.
"Rather than slowing down or ceasing growth and carbon uptake, as we previously assumed, most of the oldest trees in forests around the world actually grow faster, taking up more carbon," Richard Condit, staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute said in the news release. "A large tree may put on weight equivalent to an entire small tree in a year."
"If human growth would accelerate at the same rate, we would weigh half a ton by middle age and well over a ton at retirement," Nate Stephenson, lead author and forest ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, said in the news release.
Further research will be required to determine if older and faster-growing trees are actually more efficient in storing atmospheric carbon.
In 1980 the first "large-scale tree plot" was founded in Panama in an attempt to understand the staggering diversity of local forests. During this time the researchers were able to find 250,000 trees that had trunk diameters of at least one centimeter were documented in a region covering only 50-hectares.
The programs like REDD+ support the idea that forest mitigation could play a huge role in carbon storage and the fight against climate change.
"ForestGEO is now the foremost forest observatory system in the world with 53 plots in 23 countries and more than 80 partner institutions," Stuart Davies, ForestGEO director, said. "We hope that researchers continue to work with our data and our staff as they ask new questions about how forests respond to global change."
