Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 44(5): September 2018 Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 2018. 44(5):215–223 215 Acorn Biomass and Carbon Stock Variation in Five Oak Species Planted in the National Botanical Garden of Iran Parisa Panahi, Mehdi Pourhashemi, and Maryam Hasaninejad Abstract. Botanical gardens, as one of the most important urban forests to any region, play an important role in the ecology of human habi- tats in many ways (e.g., air filtering). The National Botanical Garden of Iran, with an area of 145 ha, includes various woody species with a predominance of oaks (Quercus spp.). The size of acorns, fruits of oaks, varies in different species, which can affect their biomass. The biomass and carbon content of acorn components (endocarp, pericarp, and cupule) of four native oak species (Q. castaneifolia C.A. Mey., Q. libani Oliv., Q. infectoria Oliv., and Q. brantii Lindl.) and one exotic oak species (Q. ilex L.), planted in the National Botanical Garden, were studied to obtain detailed comparative results. Regarding the biomass of acorn components, Q. libani and Q. ilex showed the highest and lowest values among the study species, respectively. The ranges of carbon content of acorn components were 53.5% (pericarp of Q. brantii) to 58% (cupule of Q. castaneifolia). These results confirm the variation of biomass and carbon content of acorn components among the oak species studied. Key Words. Acorn; Botanical Garden; Carbon Stock; Cupule; Endocarp; Exotic; Iran; Native; Oak; Pericarp; Quercus. Urban forests are ecosystems characterized by the presence of trees and other vegetation in associa- tion with human developments (Miller 1997; Dw- yer et al. 2000). There are many positive incentives or rationales for having urban forest ecosystems within cities, including environmental, social, and economic values. From an ecological function point of view, urban forests play an important role in many diverse aspects: reducing carbon dioxide, reducing air temperature, increasing air humidity, reducing wind speed, absorbing air pollutants, re- ducing noise levels, and providing shelter to ani- mals and recreational areas for people (Streiling and Matzarakis 2003). The National Botanical Garden of Iran, as one of the most important ur- ban forests in Tehran, Iran, is a valuable collection of woody and herbal species. This garden plays an important role in the ecology of human habitats. Carbon taken up by the forest canopy is allocated to tree organs for biomass produc- tion and respiration (Campioli et al. 2010). On the other hand, carbon allocation within a plant depends on complex rules linking carbon source organs (mainly leaves) and carbon sink organs (mainly the sapwood of stems, branches and roots, and fruits) (Génard et al. 2008). Hence, biomass-related studies have become important for studying ecosystem productivity and carbon budgets (Ryu et al. 2004; Thomas and Malczewski 2007; Saatchi et al. 2011). Aboveground biomass consists of the bio- mass of all living vegetation above the soil. The carbon stored in the aboveground living bio- mass of trees is typically the largest pool. Thus, estimating aboveground forest biomass is the most critical step in quantifying carbon stocks. Carbon (C) allocation among plant processes (e.g., respiration, biomass production) and organs (e.g., leaves, reproductive organs, and stem) is a key process in the C cycle because it determines the residence time and location of C in the ecosys- tem (Campioli et al. 2008). For example, C allo- cated to structural biomass of organs with high turnover and decomposition rate, such as decidu- ous leaves, returns to the atmosphere within few months to years, whereas C allocated to organs ©2018 International Society of Arboriculture
September 2018
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