Carbon Stock Estimation of Urban Trees in Yeka Park and KMU, Addis Ababa

Abstract

Urban forests contribute to climate regulation by controlling GHG emissions. The objective of this study was to estimate the total carbon stock’s potential of the Yeka Park Kotebe Metropolitan University and their role in climate change mitigation and enhancement of ecosystem services. There were 4064 trees recorded in the selected study sites in which 27.41% of the species were indigenous and 72.59% were exotic trees. The mean above ground and below ground biomass were 160.8 and 69.93 t ha-1 respectively and the mean carbon in the above ground and below ground biomass were 75.56 and 51.75 t ha-1 respectively. The mean CO2 in the above ground and below ground biomass were 580 and 378.3 t ha-1 respectively. Urban trees reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide through sequestration which is important for climate change mitigation; they also provide different ecosystem services.

Keywords: Carbon sequestration, urban forests, biodiversity conservation, Addis Ababa

DOI: 10.7176/JRDM/74-02

Publication date:March 31^st 2021