Biomass and Carbon Capture in Trees at Amelia Earhart Park, Miami Dade County, Florida, US

Abstract

In the context of climate change, scientists strive to look for ways to calculate the constant CO2 emissions as well as carbon sequestration to find solutions to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. In this context, it is important to recognize that trees within urban environments operate as “carbon sinks” that significantly contribute to the effort of reducing carbon in the atmosphere. During previous studies in biomass and carbon stock determination conducted in the St. Thomas University campus we have found evidence that “urban forests” play an important role in sequestering carbon from the atmosphere and can serve as a foundation for developing biomass recordings within nearby locations, to support the importance of increasing the number of parks and hardwood trees in urban environments that operate as “carbon sinks”. Our project was conducted in the Amelia Earhart Park, in Hialeah, Florida, with the purpose of calculating the amount of Biomass and Carbon Stock produced by the hardwood trees and palm trees in selected areas of the park. Tree perimeters were measured using a tailor’s tape as a first step to determining their biomass. Data transformation and allometric equations were used to determine biomass and carbon stock. The objectives of our project were (1) to determine the average total biomass and carbon stock (expressed in Kg and Mg) in selected locations, 2) compare the biomass and carbon sequestration between hardwood trees and palm trees. The overall biomass was 706,437.95 Kg (706.44 Mg), and overall, Carbon Stock was 332,026 Kg (332.02 Mg. The area sampled constitutes around 25% of the park land area, so if we extrapolate to the whole land area of the park, we could say that the overall biomass would be roughly 2,825,751.80 Kg (2,825.75 Mg), and Carbon Stock ca. 1,328,104 Kg (1,328.10 Mg). In order to calculate the totals, we only used Brown & Iverson equation. In conclusion, total Biomass calculated expressed by area is 33.9 Mg Ha-1, and Carbon Stock is 15.93 Mg Ha-1. This information strongly supports the importance of increasing the number of parks, and hardwood trees in urban environments that operate as “carbon sinks”, and consequently carbon reservoirs. Total Biomass for Hardwood trees was 689,218.93 Kg (689.22 Mg), and Total biomass for Palm Trees was 17,219.02 Kg (17.22 Mg) (Tables 3 to 8). Differences in Biomass between hardwood trees, and palm trees, are very significant (T= 7.67, p< 0.01). Between the palm trees and hardwood, 16 species were identified in different areas of the Amelia Earhart Park. Of the palm trees, Sabal palmetto and Sabal mexicana palm are the most abundant with over 68 trees in total. Of hardwood trees, Casuarina equisetifolia and Quercus virginiana are the most abundant with over 430 trees combined.