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Brazilian peppers devour carbon dioxide, study finds

Tribune file photo by JIM REED (2007)

Brazilian pepper, an invasive exotic plant, takes hold on mitigation land where Hillsborough County plans to create storm water ponds that look like natural wetlands along U.S. 301 on the edge of the Bullfrog Creek Scrub preservation area.

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by DOUG SWORD

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: June 7, 2009

SARASOTA - No one is suggesting that "Save the Brazilian Pepper" societies should start cropping up, but it turns out there is more to the noxious, invasive plant than its good looks.

Long decried as a weedy kin to poison ivy and a threatener of endangered species, the fast-growing pepper literally sucks carbon out of the atmosphere, according to a study.

Because of concerns over climate change, reducing the carbon footprint for a person or a community has become a cause celebre in environmental circles, perhaps positioning the pepper tree for a kinder public image.

But probably not.

The pepper has taken over an estimated 1 million acres, mainly in Florida's southern half. It endangers wildlife by replacing habitat that supports hundreds of species of birds while supporting only a handful itself. It costs governments and businesses millions to remove it from shorelines, highway medians and utility lines. And it is one of the factors stalling Everglades restoration.

Whatever benefit the plant may provide when it comes to carbon, the "negatives far outweigh the positives," said Kenneth Langeland, a professor at the University of Florida's Center for Aquatic and Invasive Species.

The new research was conducted by New College professor Meg Lowman in conjunction with Colorado State University.

Lowman acknowledges that the findings run counter to the generally murderous view toward the pepper.

"I'm not recommending any policy as a scientist. I'm just presenting the facts," she said. And it appears the fact is that the pepper is "an amazing storer of carbon."

The study found that an acre of Brazilian peppers absorbs 1,000 pounds of carbon. In comparison, an acre of native sawgrass absorbs 20 pounds of carbon. Another native species, slash pine, absorbs 60 pounds of carbon per acre.

And if weedy plants such as the pepper grow even faster and denser as concentrations of carbon dioxide keep going up, as some research suggests, the numbers get more impressive, Lowman said. In a mid-21st century world where carbon dioxide concentrations have doubled, an acre of peppers would consume about 1,400 pounds of carbon.

Producing bountiful seeds, peppers are particularly adept at taking over land that has been recently disturbed, such as fallow fields, highway medians and land under utility lines.

Apparently introduced to Florida in the 19th century, the pepper, which can grow to 40 feet and whose red berries prompt the alias Christmasberry tree, was sold by nurseries and was popular with landscapers in the 1970s, said Mike O'Byrne, grounds coordinator at Pelican Cove, a condominium development off Little Sarasota Bay.

It is now illegal in Florida to sell Brazilian peppers, whose leaves, when crushed, give off a peppery smell, even though the plant is unrelated to black pepper plants.

Commuters on Interstate 75 this summer will witness a veritable pepper genocide as the Florida Department of Transportation removes the plants along 100-mile-plus stretch, starting at the Hillsborough-Manatee county line.

To put things into perspective: An acre of peppers may store 1,000 pounds of carbon, while the typical observer of Christmas produces more than 1,300 pounds of carbon through extra driving, gift-purchasing and cooking during the holidays, according to a study done in Britain. So, Florida's 1 million acres of peppers basically equates to Christmas in Tampa.

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