Cities are responsible for more than 80% of global greenhouse gas
emissions. Sequestration of air pollutants is one of the main ecosystem
services that urban forests provide to the citizens. The atmospheric
concentration of several pollutants such as carbon dioxide (CO2), tropospheric ozone (O3), and particulate matter
(PM) can be reduced by urban trees through processes of adsorption
and deposition. We predict the quantity of CO2, O3, and PM removed by urban tree species with the multilayer canopy
model AIRTREE in two representative urban parks in Italy: Park of
Castel di Guido, a 3673 ha reforested area located northwest of Rome,
and Park of Valentino, a 42 ha urban park in downtown Turin. We estimated
a total annual removal of 1005 and 500 kg of carbon per hectare, 8.1
and 1.42 kg of ozone per hectare, and 8.4 and 8 kg of PM10 per hectare. We highlighted differences in pollutant sequestration
between urban areas and between species, shedding light on the importance
to perform extensive in situ measurements and modeling analysis of
tree characteristics to provide realistic estimates of urban parks
to deliver ecosystem services.
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