Carbon sequestrative capacity of scots pine stands in urban forests of Kyiv city

Abstract

The results of carbon sequestration capacity assessment of Scots pine stands in urban forests of Kyiv as their important ecosystem function are presented in the article. The methodological basis for the research of quantitative indicators of carbon sequestration capacity of urban forests is formed by the "semi-empirical" method of assessing the annual increase in total live biomass production (net primary production). In general, the assessment of carbon sequestration capacity of Scots pine forests in urban forests of Kyiv covers more than 10 thousand forest plots covered with forest vegetation over an area of more than 25 thousand hectares.

It was found that carbon sequestration capacity of Scots pine stands in Kyiv is more than 120 thousand tons of carbon, while the mean carbon sequestration capacity of the studied stands is 490 g С·(m²)^-1·year^-1. More than 95 % of these carbon volumes are sequestered by Scots pine stands.

Silvicultural peculiarities of formation of carbon sequestration capacity of Scots pine stands with different biometric characteristics were determined. In particular, almost 30 % of carbon is sequestered by stands of the first site index class, and the share of stands of artificial origin is 67.7 %.

A significant influence of biometric characteristics of stands on the intensity of carbon sequestration by the studied stands was established. The highest values of mean carbon sequestration capacity are typical for stands of VI and VII age classes (530 and 540 g С·(m²)^-1·year^-1, respectively). For stands of I^b site index class, values of more than 600 g С·(m²)^-1·year^-1 are prognosed, while for those of IV site index class the studied indicator is close to 280 g С·(m²)^-1·year^-1. The obtained results form a basis for monitoring of ecosystem potential of urban forests of Kyiv.