Ocean phytoplankton and algae produce 70-80% of the earths atmospheric oxygen. Why is tree conservation for oxygen so popular over ocean conservation then?

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Ocean phytoplankton and algae produce 70-80% of the earths atmospheric oxygen. Why is tree conservation for oxygen so popular over ocean conservation then?

In: Biology

40 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Trees are more familiar, and humanity’s effects on them are more easily understood. You can imagine 100 acres of rainforest being cleared for ranch land or banana plantations a lot more easily than a cloud of phytoplankton dying off. Just the simple fact that trees and humans are on land, while plankton and algae are in water, makes us care about them more.

Also, the focus on tree conservation does far more than just produce oxygen. In fact, I’d say that’s pretty far down the list. Carbon sequestration, soil health, and biological diversity are all greatly affected by deforestation.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Besides converting CO2 into oxygen, trees also store carbon. The process that has O2 as a byproduct is so that the tree has sugar to have energy. This takes the C from CO2 out of the atmosphere and into the wood or other structures of the tree.

Anonymous 0 Comments

In environmental biology trees are sort of a sentinel category. If we turned a giant forest into a parking lot, you’d notice and care. But you might not as easily notice the loss of all the other critters that depend on that forest. Birds, small animals, other plants, etc.

Plus being long lived, trees sequester a lot of carbon for decades. And when they die and decay, some of that carbon remains in the soil for centuries.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The human impact on forests is rather direct, the influence on algae is rather more indirect and uncertain.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Because the old paradigm has to pass out of group-think. The fact that our oceans produce most of our O2 is relatively new information.

Plus, carbon sequestration.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Trees are easier to understand and relate to. It also is better for making money off conservation.

The ocean is hard to relate to for most people, you can’t easily see algae, and is ignored and people complain about paper.

It’s a shame.

Anonymous 0 Comments

We have lots of experience with forests, and the effects of trees on the environment. We know how to produce algae blooms, but we have no solid idea of either the immediate effects or long term consequences.

Anonymous 0 Comments

So, a lot of posts here are bringing up the role that the ocean plays in the average persons mind. It may well be true that it’s easier for people to imagine the productive value of a forest than an ocean. However, I’d argue that a lot of these are missing a bigget issue, which is that much of the ocean production is limited by the amount of nutrients are available around them, meaning that there isn’t a lot we can do to promote or conserve.

Unlike trees and other land plants that rely on the soil for their nutrients, ocean plants (phytoplankton) rely on what’s in the water. This is important because when these plants die or get eaten, they don’t return to the water in the same way that land material returns to the soil; in the ocean things fall all the way to the seafloor, which can take a long time, but effectively removes it from being useful for life at the surface.

There’s a bunch of more intricate stuff going on as well (ocean microbes are much better at recycling stuff than land plants, so a lot of nutrient material gets recycled before it sinks) but it’s probably beyond the scope of an eli5. It is worth saying, however, that some areas of the ocean are more nutrient rich (particularly coastal areas) and there are some efforts to expand large scale kelp farming. This isn’t exactly conservation, but it’s probably the closest ocean equivalent to a large reforestation project.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Plankton are a boring symbol that isn’t really directly connected to anyone. You’re not going to make much money with that mascot.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Once the global temperature of the oceans warms up enough, and that won’t be long now, that algae will no longer be able to survive. In its place will be a type of algae which does not produce oxygen, but what would be considered a poisonous gas to most of the currently living species. Approximately 5% of currently existing tree species should be able to survive and continue producing oxygen, possibly enough for humans to continue living above ground.