Assessment of the Effects of Urban Expansion on Terrestrial Carbon Storage: A Case Study in Xuzhou City, China

Cheng Li, Jie Zhao, Nguyen Xuan Thinh and Yantao Xi
Additional contact information
Cheng Li: School of Resources and Geosciences, China University of Mining and Technology, Daxue Road 1, Xuzhou 221116, China
Jie Zhao: Institute of the Belt and Road, Jiangsu Normal University, Heping Road 57, Xuzhou 221009, China
Nguyen Xuan Thinh: Department of Spatial Information Management and Modelling, Faculty of Spatial Planning, TU Dortmund University, August-Schmidt-Str. 10, 44227 Dortmund, Germany
Yantao Xi: School of Resources and Geosciences, China University of Mining and Technology, Daxue Road 1, Xuzhou 221116, China

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 3, 1-17

Abstract: Carbon storage is closely connected to the productivities and climate regulation capacities of ecosystems. Assessing the effects of urban expansion on carbon storage has become increasingly important for achieving urban sustainability. This study analyzed the effects of urban expansion on terrestrial carbon storage in Xuzhou City, China during 2000–2025. The cellular automata (CA) model was developed to simulate future urban expansion under three scenarios, namely, the business as usual (BAU), ecological protection (ECO), and planning strengthened (PLS) scenarios. The Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model was further applied to explore the consequences of urban expansion on carbon storage. The results show that urban expansion resulted in 6.099 Tg of carbon storage loss from 2000–2015. Moreover, significant differences in the effects of the urban expansion scenarios on carbon storage were identified in terms of both magnitude and spatial pattern from 2015–2025. Compared with the other scenarios, the PLS scenario could be considered as a good option that would allow future development to achieve the objectives of the lowest carbon storage losses. The findings improve the understanding of the effects of urban expansion on carbon storage and may be used to support urban planning and management.

Keywords: urban expansion; carbon storage; InVEST model; cellular automata model; scenario (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/3/647/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/3/647/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:3:p:647-:d:133980

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().