Evaluation of Carbon and Oxygen Balances in Urban Ecosystems Using Land Use/Land Cover and Statistical Data

Kai Yin, Dengsheng Lu, Yichen Tian, Qianjun Zhao and Chao Yuan
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Kai Yin: Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Dengsheng Lu: Center for Global Change and Earth Observations, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA
Yichen Tian: Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Qianjun Zhao: Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Chao Yuan: Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

Sustainability, 2014, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-27

Abstract: Urban areas play an important role in the global carbon cycle, and human-induced carbon emissions from urban areas urgently need to be reduced. Therefore, understanding the relationship between carbon sources and sinks is the first step toward mitigating the effect of urban areas on climate change. Combined with the land use and land cover (LULC) empirical coefficients and statistical methods, urban carbon and oxygen balances in Beijing were evaluated. In this study, the carbon sequestration and oxygen emission capabilities of various LULC types were calculated, and the partitioning of carbon emissions and oxygen consumption in Beijing were estimated. The evaluation results indicated that the ecosystem services from the LULC in an area were not adequate to offset the urban carbon emissions and oxygen consumption. The areas with a high capacity for carbon sequestration and oxygen emissions were primarily distributed in the exurban districts of Beijing, and the carbon and oxygen balances in the exurban districts were superior to those of core urban areas. Industrial fossil fuel consumption dominated all of the human-induced carbon sources. The methods developed in this research were shown to be viable for the quantitative evaluation of urban ecosystem carbon and oxygen balances.

Keywords: LULC; carbon sequestration; carbon emissions; ecosystem service; urban ecosystem (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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