Urban warming reduces aboveground carbon storage

Emily Meineke; Elsa Youngsteadt; Robert Roberdeau Dunn; Steven D. Frank

doi:10.1098/rspb.2016.1574

Urban warming reduces aboveground carbon storage

Emily Meineke^*, Elsa Youngsteadt, Robert Roberdeau Dunn, Steven D. Frank

^*Corresponding author for this work

39 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A substantial amount of global carbon is stored in mature trees. However, no experiments to date test how warming affects mature tree carbon storage. Using a unique, citywide, factorial experiment, we investigated how warming and insect herbivory affected physiological function and carbon sequestration (carbon stored per year) of mature trees. Urban warming increased herbivorous arthropod abundance on trees, but these herbivores had negligible effects on tree carbon sequestration. Instead, urban warming was associated with an estimated 12% loss of carbon sequestration, in part because photosynthesis was reduced at hotter sites. Ecosystem service assessments that do not consider urban conditions may overestimate urban tree carbon storage. Because urban and global warming are becoming more intense, our results suggest that urban trees will sequester even less carbon in the future.

Original language	English
Article number	20161574
Journal	Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences
Volume	283
Issue number	1840
Number of pages	9
ISSN	0962-8452
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.1574
Publication status	Published - 12 Oct 2016

Keywords

Carbon storage
Climate change
Ecosystem services
Herbivory
Urban ecology
Urban heat island effect

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Urban warming reduces aboveground carbon storage

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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