Estimates of above-ground tree carbon after projected land-use and land cover change in a subtropical urban watershed

Lagrosa, John J.; Zipperer, Wayne C.; Andreu, Michael G.

doi:10.1007/s11252-020-01006-1

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…A comprehensive assessment of urban ANPP should consider all woody and herbaceous vegetation, as urban landscapes are not always dominated by trees, even when cities replace a native forested landscape. Studies of aboveground carbon storage in cities have focused on trees, with the assumption that biomass of shrubs and herbaceous plants is negligible in comparison (Lagrosa IV et al, 2020; Nowak, 1994). Nowak (1994) found that carbon storage by shrubs in Chicago, IL, USA was ~4% of the amount stored by trees, and Davies et al (2011) found that shrubs and herbaceous plants made up 2.7% of aboveground carbon stored in vegetation of Leicester, England.…”

Section: Defining and Conceptualizing Urban Anppmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban net primary production: Concepts, field methods, and Baltimore, Maryland, USA case study

Sonti

Groffman

Nowak

et al. 2022

Ecological Applications

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Given the large and increasing amount of urban, suburban, and exurban land use on Earth, there is a need to accurately assess net primary productivity (NPP) of urban ecosystems. However, the heterogeneous and dynamic urban mosaic presents challenges to the measurement of NPP, creating landscapes that may appear more similar to a savanna than to the native landscape replaced. Studies of urban biomass have tended to focus on one type of vegetation (e.g., lawns or trees). Yet a focus on the ecology of the city should include the entire urban ecosystem rather than the separate investigation of its parts. Furthermore, few studies have attempted to measure urban aboveground NPP (ANPP) using field‐based methods. Most studies project growth rates from measurements of tree diameter to estimate annual ANPP or use remote sensing approaches. In addition, field‐based methods for measuring NPP do not address any special considerations for adapting such field methods to urban landscapes. Frequent planting and partial or complete removal of herbaceous and woody plants can make it difficult to accurately quantify increments and losses of plant biomass throughout an urban landscape. In this study, we review how ANPP of urban landscapes can be estimated based on field measurements, highlighting the challenges specific to urban areas. We then estimated ANPP of woody and herbaceous vegetation over a 15‐year period for Baltimore, MD, USA using a combination of plot‐based field data and published values from the literature. Baltimore's citywide ANPP was estimated to be 355.8 g m−2, a result that we then put into context through comparison with other North American Long‐Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites and mean annual precipitation. We found our estimate of Baltimore citywide ANPP to be only approximately half as much (or less) than ANPP at forested LTER sites of the eastern United States, and more comparable to grassland, oldfield, desert, or boreal forest ANPP. We also found that Baltimore had low productivity for its level of precipitation. We conclude with a discussion of the significance of accurate assessment of primary productivity of urban ecosystems and critical future research needs.

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Section: Defining and Conceptualizing Urban Anppmentioning

confidence: 99%