Surface Soil Carbon Storage in Urban Green Spaces in Three Major South Korean Cities

Tae Yoon,Gwan Park,Yeong Son,Kyung Seo,Yowhan Son

doi:10.3390/f7060115

Abstract

Quantifying and managing carbon (C) storage in urban green space (UGS) soils is associated with the ecosystem services necessary for human well-being and the national C inventory report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Here, the soil C stocks at 30-cm depths in different types of UGS’s (roadside, park, school forest, and riverside) were studied in three major South Korean cities that have experienced recent, rapid development. The total C of 666 soil samples was analyzed, and these results were combined with the available UGS inventory data. Overall, the mean soil bulk density, C concentration, and C density at 30-cm depths were 1.22 g·cm−3, 7.31 g·C·kg−1, and 2.13 kg·C·m−2, respectively. The UGS soil C stock (Gg·C) at 30-cm depths was 105.6 for Seoul, 43.6 for Daegu, and 26.4 for Daejeon. The lower C storage of Korean UGS soils than those of other countries is due to the low soil C concentration and the smaller land area under UGS. Strategic management practices that augment the organic matter supply in soil are expected to enhance C storage in South Korean UGS soils.

Highlights

Enhancing ecosystem services and human well-being is especially vital for urbanized lands [1,2] where half of the global population and 90%of the South Korean population lives
Considering the four urban green space (UGS) types, the soil C density values were significantly higher in soils at riverside (2.62 kg Cm2 )
Roadside (2.41 kg Cm2 ) than at park (2.05 kg Cm2 ) and school (1.76 kg Cm2 ), which corresponded to the order of their soil C concentrations (Table 3)

Summary

Introduction

Enhancing ecosystem services and human well-being is especially vital for urbanized lands (see the definition in the footnotes of Table 1) [1,2] where half of the global population and 90%of the South Korean population lives. Enhancing ecosystem services and human well-being is especially vital for urbanized lands (see the definition in the footnotes of Table 1) [1,2] where half of the global population and 90%. Soils support various ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling, habitat provision, food production, storm water management, and carbon (C) storage [3,4,5,6]. Organic and inorganic C in soils increases their quality, indirectly supporting other ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling and pollution mitigation [3]. Given the changing global trends of urbanization in the last 100 years, UGS soil C of young cities with a relatively recent history of urbanization has not been adequately studied

Methods

Results

Conclusion