Study on Carbon Sequestration Capacity of Typical Crops in Northern China

Abstract

The carbon sequestration potential of different crops in their mature period in Northern China was analyzed in order to promote the selection of green species. Carbon dioxide infrared gas detection, three-dimensional fluorescence, fixed carbon enzyme activity analysis and other methods were used to test the carbon sequestration capacity of nine representative mature crops in the Beijing area. Results show that the carbon sequestration capacity of the nine crops was: corn > sorghum > wheat > tomato > cucumber > cabbage > celery > eggplant > pepper. Among them, the carbon sequestration capacity of corn and sorghum which are C4 crops was stronger than that of other crops. Meanwhile, the three-dimensional fluorescence spectra of corn were closer to sorghum, and there were significant differences in the characteristics of the three-dimensional fluorescence spectra of C3 crops. Based on the analysis of the activity of the fixed carbon enzyme—Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase (PEP) carboxylase and Ribulose-1, 5-Bisphosphate (RuBP) Carboxylase of these plants show that the carbon sequestration capacity of C4 crops was much larger than C3 crops because of its higher PEP carboxylase activity. The carbon sequestration capacity of C3 crops was positively correlated with the activity of RuBP carboxylase in addition to cabbage. Therefore, the carbon sequestration capacity of crops can be measured by using the portable carbon dioxide infrared analyzer.