{"id":15177933,"date":"2026-06-25T13:19:44","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T17:19:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/fragmented-forests-sequester-less-carbon\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T13:20:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T17:20:07","slug":"fragmented-forests-sequester-less-carbon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/fragmented-forests-sequester-less-carbon\/","title":{"rendered":"Fragmented Forests Sequester Less Carbon"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/figure>\n

When governments, nongovernmental organizations, or corporations clear forests, they often commit to net zero deforestation goals, meaning that they will plant an equivalent area of forest elsewhere to offset the effects of what they cut.<\/p>\n

But a new study published in Nature Ecology and Evolution<\/em><\/a> suggests that larger forests absorb carbon more efficiently than an equivalent area of smaller forests. The new findings reveal previously unknown climate impacts even when net zero deforestation is upheld, suggesting the need for updated deforestation policies.<\/p>\n

Yibiao Zou<\/a>, an ecologist at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL and ETH Zurich, traces his interest in forest ecosystems to childhood, when he learned that habitat fragmentation had wiped out tiger populations near his home in southeastern China. As he later studied ecology, he learned that breaking up forests into smaller, isolated patches is a common occurrence worldwide with widespread ecological consequences, such as reduced biodiversity and changes in forest microclimates that affect carbon storage. But Zou and his colleagues became interested in whether fragmentation also affects a forest\u2019s productivity, which is a measure of how fast it pulls carbon out of the atmosphere.<\/p>\n

To answer this question, the researchers used satellite data on tree cover to locate forests, first focusing on the United States because of the high-resolution imagery available. They used existing methods to estimate productivity \u201cbased on how green the picture looks from space,\u201d Zou said, a measurement that indicates how actively trees are photosynthesizing and how much carbon dioxide the forest is absorbing.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\u201cA 38% difference in carbon is shocking.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

Across 17 million forest patches in the United States, the analysis showed that a hectare within a large continuous forest (of about 100,000 square kilometers, or 10 million hectares) was 38% more productive on average than an isolated hectare in a similar environment. \u201cThis study shows that if you keep the area the same, but you make the forest more fragmented, its function would be highly affected,\u201d Zou said. While he and the team anticipated that productivity would be higher in larger forests, they were surprised by how much. \u201cWe didn\u2019t expect that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA 38% difference in carbon is shocking,\u201d agreed Becky Chaplin-Kramer<\/a>, a landscape ecologist at the World Wildlife Fund who wasn\u2019t involved in the study. \u201cThat\u2019s really compelling.\u201d<\/p>\n

The researchers calculated that this fragmentation is costing the United States roughly 160 million metric tons of carbon absorption per year, which is around 14% less than if the same forest area were intact.<\/p>\n

Although the resolution of satellite data isn\u2019t as high in other parts of the world, the researchers extended their research to other continents. Forest size in Europe did not significantly affect productivity, possibly because there are few large forests left. But the relationship found in the United States was common on all other inhabited continents and was particularly strong in tropical regions.<\/p>\n

\"A
Credit: Paul Hudson\/Flickr<\/a>, CC BY 2.0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Edge Effects<\/h3>\n

The researchers attribute the drop in productivity in smaller forests to a much higher ratio of edges where the forest meets other ecosystems. Past research suggests that trees at forest edges store less carbon, possibly because they are exposed to more stress from wind, temperature shifts, and direct sunlight. These \u201cedge effects\u201d on carbon storage are also more pronounced in tropical forests, consistent with what the scientists found for productivity.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\u201cWe need to know where to regrow forest so it will be most efficient in terms of restoring connectivity to boost biodiversity and carbon sequestration.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

Chaplin-Kramer agreed that edge effects are a likely explanation for the difference in productivity between trees in large and small forests but noted that edges might also simply include fewer trees with more mixed types of lands. She said that the conservation approach would depend on whether the cause is fewer trees or lower productivity of individual trees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese questions of mechanisms are really fundamental to being able to move forward and making the science actionable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Zou plans to work on practical applications for the findings next by building a tool for policymakers that allows for more strategic reforestation, rather than simply replacing a lost hectare of forest with one somewhere else. \u201cWe need to know where to regrow forest so it will be most efficient in terms of restoring connectivity to boost biodiversity and carbon sequestration,\u201d he said. \u201cI am trying to make the tools to identify the prioritized regions to conserve forests and restore forests.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014Andrew Chapman (@andrewgchapman.bsky.social<\/a>), Science Writer<\/p>\n

Citation:<\/strong>\u00a0Chapman, A. (2026), Fragmented forests sequester less carbon,\u00a0Eos, 107, <\/em>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1029\/2026EO260206<\/a>. Published on 25 June 2026.<\/h5>\n
Text \u00a9 2026. The authors.\u00a0CC BY-NC-ND 3.0<\/a>
Except where otherwise noted, images are subject to copyright. Any reuse without express permission from the copyright owner is prohibited.<\/h6>\n

Source: Science \u2013 eos<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New research has revealed that larger, unified forests store more carbon than the same area of fragmented patches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15177935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[218],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15177933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15177933-treetops-from-below-1024x576-1.jpg",1024,576,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15177933-treetops-from-below-1024x576-1-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15177933-treetops-from-below-1024x576-1-620x349.jpg",620,349,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15177933-treetops-from-below-1024x576-1-768x432.jpg",768,432,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15177933-treetops-from-below-1024x576-1-940x529.jpg",940,529,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15177933-treetops-from-below-1024x576-1.jpg",1024,576,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15177933-treetops-from-below-1024x576-1.jpg",1024,576,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15177933-treetops-from-below-1024x576-1-998x576.jpg",998,576,true],"ignition_item":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15177933-treetops-from-below-1024x576-1-670x446.jpg",670,446,true],"ignition_item_lg":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15177933-treetops-from-below-1024x576-1.jpg",1024,576,false],"ignition_article_media":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15177933-treetops-from-below-1024x576-1-510x510.jpg",510,510,true],"ignition_minicart_item":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15177933-treetops-from-below-1024x576-1-160x160.jpg",160,160,true],"profile_24":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15177933-treetops-from-below-1024x576-1-24x24.jpg",24,24,true],"profile_48":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15177933-treetops-from-below-1024x576-1-48x48.jpg",48,48,true],"profile_96":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15177933-treetops-from-below-1024x576-1-96x96.jpg",96,96,true],"profile_150":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15177933-treetops-from-below-1024x576-1-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"profile_300":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/15177933-treetops-from-below-1024x576-1-300x300.jpg",300,300,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"news.iNthacity","author_link":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/author\/atombo\/"},"category_info":"Science<\/a>","tag_info":"Science","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15177933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15177933"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15177933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15177934,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15177933\/revisions\/15177934"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15177935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15177933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15177933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15177933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}