Abstract
Urbanization displaces agriculture and natural ecosystems, constraining food security and carbon (C) sinks. A proposed solution, Urban Food Forestry (UFF), promises local food from trees that can sequester C faster than other land cover types as long as soil function can sustain increased above and belowground productivity. We compared fine-scale variation in soil physical, chemical and biological properties within and between UFF and traditional lawn for evidence of changes in belowground ecosystem services. Both land covers sequestered C, but UFF did so 834% faster, especially in upper soil strata where soil bulk density fell by 50% and microbial activity increased by 1167%. Species richness of both soil fungi and bacteria increased along with nutrient concentrations. Contrary to expectations, that different tree traits would drive increasing fine scale variability in C density, soils beneath the UFF became more uniform, which is consistent with the rapid emergence of system-level regulation. Soil C mass balance may distinguish forests from collections of trees and determine how long UFF helps cities store their carbon and eat it too.
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All data necessary to reproduce the analysis is provided in Supplementary Information.
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Acknowledgements
Meghan Midgley, Joshua Breithaupt and Richard Hauer provided insightful comments on an early draft of this manuscript. An anonymous reviewer made excellent suggestions for improving the comparison between land cover types. Deniz Wilson and Deric Harvey completed informal surveys of the lawn habitat. New College of Florida students funded the land use experiment through the New College of Florida Green Fee. Additional funds for soil analyses were provided by the New College of Florida Foundation.
Funding
New College of Florida students funded the land use experiment through the New College of Florida Green Fee. Additional funds for soil analyses were provided by the New College of Florida Foundation.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data collection were performed by Jay McWilliams and Steven Bressan. Data analysis was conducted by Brad Oberle and Erika Díaz-Almeyda. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Brad Oberle. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Oberle, B., Bressan, S., McWilliams, J. et al. Urban food forestry transforms fine-scale soil function for rapid and uniform carbon sequestration. Urban Ecosyst 26, 1239–1250 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-023-01384-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-023-01384-2