Plaguing Question on CO2 Sequestration

Carbon Cycle: This figure is showing movement of carbon
within a terrestrial and an aquatic ecosystem.

I have always been plagued by the following question: Do young plants or old plants remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere? This simple question lead to even more questions than answers. Does mowing or allowing the flora to grow without human involvement capture more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

After combing through many websites I have come to the following conclusion: there is to much controversy to determine which age captures more carbon dioxide. Old growth trees contain more carbon due to the fact these trees have lived for hundreds of years. There needs to be more data gathered that uses differences measurements. Between the softwood and hardwood trees the hardwood trees would capture more carbon dioxide due to the fact these plants are denser and contain more biomass per board foot than softwoods.

NASA: Does the Age of the Tree Effect Carbon Storage - The research shows that young forests store more carbon than old forests. Reasons for this data is due to the fact the varied amount of species found in a young forest and number of trees within the given area.

Idaho: Forests & Carbon - This is a great article that talks about how forests effect the amount of carbon captured from the atmosphere. Provides different solutions to help reduce human impact and to be able to conserve energy usage.