Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 16, 2026

Characterization, Quantification and Compound-specific Isotopic Analysis of Pyrogenic Carbon Using Benzene Polycarboxylic Acids (BPCA)
Published on: May 16, 2016
Organic carbon hidden in urban ecosystems
Jill L Edmondson1, Zoe G Davies, Nicola McHugh
1Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield , Sheffield S10 2TN, UK. j.edmondson@sheffield.ac.uk
Abstract:
Urbanization is widely presumed to degrade ecosystem services, but empirical evidence is now challenging these assumptions. We report the first city-wide organic carbon (OC) budget for vegetation and soils, including under impervious surfaces. Urban soil OC storage was significantly greater than in regional agricultural land at equivalent soil depths, however there was no significant difference in storage between soils sampled beneath urban greenspaces and impervious surfaces, at equivalent depths. For a typical U.K. city, total OC storage was 17.6 kg m(-2) across the entire urban area (assuming 0 kg m(-2) under 15% of land covered by buildings). The majority of OC (82%) was held in soils, with 13% found under impervious surfaces, and 18% stored in vegetation. We reveal that assumptions underpinning current national estimates of ecosystem OC stocks, as required by Kyoto Protocol signatories, are not robust and are likely to have seriously underestimated the contributions of urban areas.
More Related Videos
09:38Single-throughput Complementary High-resolution Analytical Techniques for Characterizing Complex Natural Organic Matter Mixtures
Published on: January 7, 2019
07:32Monitoring Pedogenic Inorganic Carbon Accumulation Due to Weathering of Amended Silicate Minerals in Agricultural Soils.
Published on: June 4, 2021
Related Concept Videos
The Carbon Cycle
Freshwater Microbial Ecology
Bioremediation
Carbon-dioxide Fixation
Microbes and Climate Change
Microbes and Methanogenesis