DOI: 10.5061/dryad.j25t0
title: Data from: Modelling short-rotation coppice and tree planting for urban carbon management – a city-wide analysis

description: 1. The capacity of urban areas to deliver provisioning ecosystem services
 is commonly overlooked and underutilized. Urban populations have globally
 increased fivefold since 1950, and they disproportionately consume
 ecosystem services and contribute to carbon emissions, highlighting the
 need to increase urban sustainability and reduce environmental impacts of
 urban dwellers. Here, we investigated the potential for increasing carbon
 sequestration, and biomass fuel production, by planting trees and
 short-rotation coppice (SRC), respectively, in a mid-sized UK city as a
 contribution to meeting national commitments to reduce CO2 emissions. 2.
 Iterative GIS models were developed using high-resolution spatial data.
 The models were applied to patches of public and privately owned urban
 greenspace suitable for planting trees and SRC, across the 73 km2 area of
 the city of Leicester. We modelled tree planting with a species mix based
 on the existing tree populations, and SRC with willow and poplar to
 calculate biomass production in new trees, and carbon sequestration into
 harvested biomass over 25 years. 3. An area of 11 km2 comprising 15% of
 the city met criteria for tree planting and had the potential over 25
 years to sequester 4200 tonnes of carbon above-ground. Of this area, 5·8
 km2 also met criteria for SRC planting and over the same period this could
 yield 71 800 tonnes of carbon in harvested biomass. 4. The harvested
 biomass could supply energy to over 1566 domestic homes or 30 municipal
 buildings, resulting in avoided carbon emissions of 29 236 tonnes of
 carbon over 25 years when compared to heating by natural gas. Together
 with the net carbon sequestration into trees, a total reduction of 33 419
 tonnes of carbon in the atmosphere could be achieved in 25 years by
 combined SRC and tree planting across the city. 5. Synthesis and
 applications. We demonstrate that urban greenspaces in a typical UK city
 are underutilized for provisioning ecosystem services by trees and
 especially SRC, which has high biomass production potential. For urban
 greenspace management, we recommend that planting SRC in urban areas can
 contribute to reducing food–fuel conflicts on agricultural land and
 produce renewable energy sources close to centres of population and
 demand.
description: Garden Tree
 SurveyLocation of gardens
 surveyed, and details of trees identified including size (circumference,
 diameter and height).McHugh_etal_JAE_GardenTreeSurvey.csvExisting and Modelled Above-ground CarbonZip file contains comma-delimited data files of existing above-ground carbon stored in the existing tree stock, modelled biomass carbon resulting from tree planting in domestic, public and mixed ownership land over 25 years, and modelled live and harvested biomass carbon resulting from short-rotation coppice over 25 yearsMcHugh_etal_JAE_ExistingandModelledCarbon.zipCarbon assimilated over 25 yearsQuantities of biomass carbon assimilated over 25 years through modelling tree planting and short-rotation coppiceMcHugh_etal_JAE_AssimilatedCarbon.csv