PARKS AND GARDENS IN DELHI: A CASE STUDY EXAMINING CARBON STORAGE POTENTIAL OF URBAN GREEN SPACES IN SOUTH AND SOUTH-WEST DELHI

摘要

Urban areas play significant role in global carbon cycle. They produce larger amount of CO_2 emissions as compared to other rural areas. Besides this, they also sequester and deposit carbon in urban forests and other green spaces. However, the potential of urban trees to directly remove CO_2 from urban environment is poorly understood. Under the present investigation, we undertook the analysis of carbon accumulated by trees lying in the sample plots of Lodi Garden in South Delhi and in a park of South-West District in Delhi. This study does not include the emissions associated with greenery management. Carbon stored in the living biomass was estimated using nondestructive approach. The results also showed great difference in the average girth of sampled trees at the two studied sites. The data revealed that the urban park of South-West Delhi was quite young with average diameter at breast height (DBH) as 15.47 cm and thus, had potential to sequester more carbon in coming years. This study also highlighted the role of urban trees in mitigating climate change and emphasizd the need of greater attention to be paid to the establishment and maintenance of various urban green spaces. Findings of the study showed that Azadirachta indica was sequesteringmaximum amount of carbon at both sites i.e.26.23% and 62.67% in Lodi Garden and DDA Park, Dwarka, respectively. The same species also showed maximum Importance Value Index (IVI) at both the sites. Calculated soil organic carbon was more at Lodi Garden (1.99%) in comparison to DDA Park (0.83%).