Pinus pinaster
Plants are not only beings that produce much-needed oxygen, but now they can also help scientists improve climate change models thanks to a technique developed by Josep Penuelas, researcher at the Center for Ecological Research and Forest Applications (CREAF-UAB).
This technique, based on the analysis of remote sensing images obtained from satellites, will allow researchers to have a clearer and more concise idea of the future that awaits us.
There are a series of conifers, such as pines or firs, which, being evergreen plants, have been very difficult for scientists to capture how the photosynthesis carried out by these leaves changes throughout the year. However, they have now discovered that in the colder months the production of chlorophyll (the pigment that gives the green color to the leaves and is responsible for photosynthesis) is reduced in favor of other pigments: carotenoids (reddish in color). or orange).
Thanks to remote sensing from satellites of the amount of chlorophyll and carotenoids, they will be able to record all seasonal changes, some changes that according to Peñuelas coincide and follow the same pattern as the photosynthetic rate as well as the gross primary production of the ecosystem, which is the total amount of carbon dioxide that is fixed in the leaves during photosynthesis.
Thus, knowing the proportion of chlorophyll and carotenoids, be able to make better estimates of the amount of carbon that different ecosystems sequester throughout the year, which in turn will serve to make better projections of climate change since this is a phenomenon that alters the cycles of plants.
Knowing the effects of the changes that have been taking place in the climate, both in plants and animals, will help us understand what is happening on planet Earth.