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Kang KA, Marín-Spiotta E, Vaughan E, Ferring CR, Ponette-González AG. Soil Black Carbon Increases Under Urban Trees with Road Density and Time: Opportunity Hotspots for Carbon Storage in Urban Ecosystems. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2023:10.1007/s00267-023-01911-z. [PMID: 37993546 DOI: 10.1007/s00267-023-01911-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/05/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023]
Abstract
Black carbon (BC) can comprise a significant fraction of the soil carbon pool in cities. However, vegetation cover and human activity influence the spatial distribution of urban soil BC. We quantified soil total carbon (TC), soil organic carbon (SOC), BC, and total nitrogen (TN) in a medium-sized city in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. Soils were sampled to 20 cm depth from underneath 16 paired Quercus stellata (post oak) trees and open lawns. Effects of vegetation cover, road density, and building age (a proxy for time since development) on soil C and N were analyzed. Soil OC concentrations were higher under post oak trees (5.5%) compared to open lawns (3.6%) at 0-10 cm, but not at 10-20 cm depth. In contrast, soil BC and TN did not differ by vegetation cover. There were significant interaction effects between vegetation cover and road density and vegetation cover and building age on soil BC. At 0-10 cm, soil BC concentrations, stock, and BC/SOC ratios increased more with road density under trees than lawns, indicating enhanced atmospheric BC deposition to tree canopies. Black carbon in tree soils also increased with building age as compared to lawn soils, likely due to higher BC retention under trees, enhanced BC losses under lawns, or both. Our findings show that urban tree soils are localized opportunity hotspots for BC storage in areas with elevated emissions and longer time since development. Conserving and planting urban trees above permeable surfaces and soils could contribute to long-term carbon storage in urban ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherina A Kang
- Department of Geography and the Environment, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, 76203, USA
- Department of Plant and Soil Science, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA
| | - Erika Marín-Spiotta
- Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Elliot Vaughan
- Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
- Evironmental Science Program, Southwest Minnesota State University, 1501 State St., Marshall, MN, 56258, USA
| | - C Reid Ferring
- Department of Geography and the Environment, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, 76203, USA
| | - Alexandra G Ponette-González
- Department of Geography and the Environment, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, 76203, USA.
- Department of City and Metropolitan Planning, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA.
- Natural History Museum of Utah, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84108, USA.
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