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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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Denton residents, City of Denton Parks and Recreation, and UNT Facilities for allowing us to conduct soil sampling in Denton’s urban yards and greenspaces. We also thank Jenna E. Rindy for assistance with field sampling. We are grateful to the UNT Toulouse Graduate School for granting a travel support scholarship and the UNT College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences and the Southwest American Association of Geographers for providing data and fieldwork scholarships. Support for this research was provided by the National Science Foundation (CAREER #1552410).
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KAK and AGPG conceived and designed the study; KAK collected and processed the samples; RCF, EMS, and EV provided laboratory resources and supervision; EV conducted sample analysis; KAK and AGPG analyzed the data and created the figures; KAK wrote the manuscript, and all authors reviewed and edited the paper.
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Kang, K.A., Marín-Spiotta, E., Vaughan, E. et al. Soil Black Carbon Increases Under Urban Trees with Road Density and Time: Opportunity Hotspots for Carbon Storage in Urban Ecosystems. Environmental Management 73, 788–800 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-023-01911-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-023-01911-z