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Terrestrial Carbon Management in Urban Ecosystems and Water Quality

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Abstract

The hydrology of urban ecosystems is drastically different from those of natural, rural ecosystems. Urbanization deliberately alters natural hydrosystems for domestic uses, industrial processes, sanitation, and protection from floods, hurricanes, and tsunamis because most ancient urban centers were sited along rivers and deltas. The amount of water extracted in the natural environment for human use has tripled over the last 50 years. This water withdrawal is likely to increase in the future as the projected increase in global energy production by 60% until 2030 requires more water. In modern urban ecosystems, water quality is also affected by increased loadings of nutrients, metals, pesticides, and other contaminants in urban runoff, municipal and industrial discharges. Drastic alteration in hydrological fluxes is caused by the increase in impervious surface cover which decreases infiltration, increases surface runoff, and transports pollutants into streams. In 2000, for example, the impervious surface cover of the conterminous U.S. was 83,749 km2, and is projected to increase to 114,070 km2 by 2030, approaching the size of Ohio. Thus, reducing the impervious surface cover can moderate the extreme hydrologic conditions observed in urban centers. Managing urban storm water and establishing green roofs are other measures to improve urban hydrology. Stormwater runoff reduction by green roofs, for example, can be as much as 27% and 87% of annual precipitation. By establishing closed nutrient and water cycles in urban centers, the quality of water efflux from urban ecosystems can be improved. Increasing the levels of soil organic matter (SOM), in particular, drives microbial activity and nitrate (NO 3 − ) removal, and retains nutrients and contaminants in the soil. This can be achieved by increasing the urban area covered by vegetation and soil, increasing pervious sealing cover types, establishing green roofs on buildings, restoring degraded urban soils and enhancing the SOM sink.

Keywords

Urban hydrology Urban soils Impervious surface Soil organic matter Green roofs 
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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies e.V.PotsdamGermany
  2. 2.Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, School of Environment and Natural ResourcesThe Ohio State UniversityColumbusUSA

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