That simply can’t be true in the wild. If that much carbon was released from plants in the wild, we’d never have coal or oil, right? Composting the grass might be the same as cows, but that process doesn’t happen everywhere there’s grass. In the wild, the grass would be trampled and new grass would sprout up to cover it, layers of soil would be generated. But honestly I’m just guessing, but your claim seems so far off the mark.
I’m really glad you asked that! The reason we have coal and oil today is that earlier in Earth’s history microorganisms lacked the enzyme to metabolize cellulose (the most abundant bioorganic material). So until then, it was buried and accumulated as fossil fuels.
Today’s ecosystem can metabolize cellulose, so no more fossil fuel production. Quite literally an unsustainable fuel!
No I understand how it works. But what I’m saying is that the enzymes/bacteria in the wild dont process grass like a cows gut. You need composting to happen vs trampling and burying the grass. But ty!
Coal and oil come from carbon captured during the Carboniferous period, before the evolution of species of bacteria and fungi that could digest the lignin in plants.
Coal and oil formation is not being fed by plant life today. The carbon in plants is recycled rather quickly in to the ecosphere.
Fair. So then I would augment my comment to focus just on soil production in the wild. Not all of the plant debris is being composted. It gets buried too.
