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Revision as of 10:44, 8 October 2009 by 121.127.207.75 (talk) (refs on c4 plants)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Biosequestration is the capture of atmospheric carbon by photosynthesis. It is crucial to the initiation, evolution and preservation of life.
Carbon in the Earth's atmosphere
It is generally accepted by geochemists that the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere since before the industrial revolution was 0.03 percent. The capture of atmosphereic C02 level has been largely a function of absorption by sea water, vegetation and soils. The capacity of the oceans to absorb C02 is decreasing. Given the potential adverse effects of rising atmospheric C02 levels (see climate change) this increases the importance of developing policies and laws that increase photosynthesis and biosequestration.
Enhanced photosynthesis
Biosequestration may be enhanced by improving photosynthetic efficiency by modifying RuBisCO genes in plants to increase the catalytic and/or oxygenation activity of that enzyme. One such research area involves increasing the earth's proportion of C4 photosynthetic plants. C4 plants represent about 5% of Earth's plant biomass and 1% of its known plant species, but account for around 30% of terrestrial carbon fixation.
References
- JE Lovelock. Gaia. A New Look at Life on Earth. Oxford University Press. Oxford. 1989 p80
- Tim Flannery. The Weather Makers. The History and Future Impact of Climate Change. Text Publishing. Melbourne.2005. p29
- CL Sabine et al. The oceanic sink for anthropogenic C02 Science 2004; 305:367-71.
- Spreitzer RJ, Salvucci ME (2002). "Rubisco: structure, regulatory interactions, and possibilities for a better enzyme". Annu Rev Plant Biol. 53: 449–75. doi:10.1146/annurev.arplant.53.100301.135233. PMID 12221984.
- Bond, W.J.; Woodward, F.I.; Midgley, G.F. (2005). "The global distribution of ecosystems in a world without fire". New Phytologist 165 (2): 525–538.
- Osborne, C.P.; Beerling, D.J. (2006). "Review. Nature's green revolution: the remarkable evolutionary rise of C4 plants". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 361 (1465): 173–194