Urbanization and coastal development have changed the southern California landscape, introducing impermeable surfaces to the coastal sage scrub historically present. These changes in land cover can lead to risks to human safety (e.g. flooding) and the environment (e.g. local pollution). In efforts to mitigate these risks, the use of green infrastructure has become more widespread in places like southern California, which experiences water challenges that are predicted to increase with climate change. Natural treatment systems (NTS), one form of green infrastructure, are man-made installations designed to capture and treat stormwater runoff using physical and biological processes, functioning as a built ecosystem. As a result, NTS have the potential to provide ecosystem services in addition to targeted runoff capture and treatment. One ecosystem service of interest is carbon sequestration and storage in the plants and soils of NTS, which may be of growing interest as atmospheric carbon dioxide continues to increase. Here, we begin to investigate ecosystem services linked to the climate by examining carbon uptake and emissions within NTS in relation to other urban landscapes in San Diego, California. Our sampling locations are spread throughout the University of California, San Diego campus and span four categories of land cover: NTS (biofilters), ornamental gardens, lawns, and coastal sage scrub. We calculate carbon fluxes over these green urban landscapes and identify their drivers. Lastly, we estimate a production frontier to measure efficiency of carbon uptake and discuss how this ecosystem service can be advanced in NTS planning, design, and maintenance.

Carbon uptake and emissions over urban landscapes in San Diego, California: Potential ecosystem service

2019 Fall National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.