Do trees continue to scrub Co2 from the air when they are void of leaves?

Question

When trees lose their leaves do they not take in Co2 anymore? Also, how much Co2 does the average tree scrub out of the air in its lifetime?

Answer 1

No.  Photosynthesis occurs at the green surfaces on a plant and only during the day.  At night and when leaves are absent the opposite occurs- plants consume oxygen and produce CO2.

Answer 2

Go with the answers that say no (kind of).  Plants use photosynthesis and when they loose their leaves there's not much photosynthesis going on.  Some trees have the capability to conduct photosynthesis in locations other than true leaves.

I'm not a botanist so I won't go into any further detail.

Plants, algae, and some bacteria use the carbon molecules from CO2 (carbon dioxide) to make cell tissue (we use organic carbon).  Nobody seems to pay much attention to algae!  All the water on this planet and sooooo much algae!  I digress.  So these organisms take CO2 out of the atmosphere and convert it to cell mass.  The dark reaction in plants does release CO2 into the atmosphere but it isn't 100% of what was taken in.  That's because the carbon went into the cell mass.  As long as the plant is growing.  But when the tree decays, biological activity breaks down organic matter into CO2 + water (if allowed to go to completion).  So theoretically there is a zero net CO2 change in the environment.  The same is true if you speed up this decay with fire!!!!  But...what if the organic matter gets buried before it can be broken down biologically or burned.  Then the carbon is held from the environment (for a while).  This is where fossil fuels come in.  All that buried carbon now comes back and when we burn it we make...you guessed it...CO2.

Answer 3

Plants are net producers of CO2 at night and when they have no leaves.

Plants are mainly made of carbon which is obtained from CO2 in the atmosphere, so the answer to your second question is a plant will scrub out a portion of CO2 from the atmosphere comparable to the weight of the tree and will return this CO2 to the atmosphere when it decomposes.  

Contrary to what a lot of environmentalists have claimed, trees are not net consumers of CO2 over their entire life and decomposition cycle.

Answer 4

Yes.  If they are alive they still 'breathe' co2.

"An acre of trees absorbs enough CO2 over one year to equal the amount produced by driving a car 26,000 miles."

"A single mature tree can absorb carbon dioxide at a rate of 48 lbs./year and release enough oxygen back into the atmosphere to support 2 human beings."

There you go!