Current and potential carbon stocks of trees in urban parking lots in towns of the Eastern Cape,South Africa |
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| Authors: | Alexandra O’Donoghue Charlie M Shackleton |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, United States;2. Urban Ecology Research Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, United States;3. Department of Geography, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47408, United States;1. Departamento de Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Apartado 1095, 41080 Sevilla, Spain;2. Departamento de Ecología y Geología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Teatinos s/n, 29071 Málaga, Spain;1. Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NR, UK;2. Department of Food and Resource Economics, Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate (CMEC), Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, 1958 Copenhagen, Denmark;3. Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK;4. Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK;1. Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), Center for Environmental Sensing and Modeling (CENSAM), 1 CREATE Way, #09-03 CREATE Tower, Singapore 138602, Singapore;2. National University of Singapore (NUS), Department of Geography, Singapore, Singapore;3. Molina Center for Energy and the Environment (MCE2), La Jolla, CA, USA;1. Chair for Forest Growth and Yield Science, School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Technische Universität München, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354 Freising, Germany;2. Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and Management, School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Technische Universität München, Emil-Ramann-Str. 6, 85354 Freising, Germany |
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| Abstract: | Greening of shopping centre parking lots is a potentially important strategy that can contribute to urban carbon mitigation efforts, improve aesthetics and the shopping experience of consumers, whilst adding to urban biodiversity. Twenty-eight shopping centre parking lots in six Eastern Cape urban centres, South Africa, were sampled to determine tree species composition, density and annual carbon sequestration potential. The best case parking lot found during the study was used as a benchmark to display the difference between current tree density and above-ground carbon stocks relative to the potential optimum. The highest tree density was 66 trees ha?1, whereas the average density across all sampled parking lots was less than half that (27.2 ± 22.6 trees ha?1). The average annual carbon sequestration potential per parking lot was 1390 ± 2503 kg ha?1. Planting density was positively related to annual sequestration rates, whilst parking lot age and the mean annual rainfall of the town had no influence. Mean tree species richness per parking lot was 2.3 ± 1.8 species, with a positive relationship to parking lot size, but not to mean annual rainfall of the site. The majority of trees (62.5%) in parking lots were alien species, although newer parking lots had significantly greater proportions of indigenous species. There was no difference in mean annual carbon sequestration rate per tree between indigenous and alien trees species. Low tree densities and small parking lot areas constrained the potential for earning carbon credits from trees in parking lots. Nonetheless, planners and designers need to be more aware of the potential contribution of trees towards urban sustainability. |
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| Keywords: | Alien Carbon sequestration Density Indigenous Species composition |
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