title: Land-cover effects on soil organic carbon stocks in a European city.
abstract: Soil is the vital foundation of terrestrial ecosystems storing water, nutrients, and almost three-quarters of the organic carbon stocks of the Earth's biomes. Soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks vary with land-cover and land-use change, with significant losses occurring through disturbance and cultivation. Although urbanisation is a growing contributor to land-use change globally, the effects of urban land-cover types on SOC stocks have not been studied for densely built cities. Additionally, there is a need to resolve the direction and extent to which greenspace management such as tree planting impacts on SOC concentrations. Here, we analyse the effect of land-cover (herbaceous, shrub or tree cover), on SOC stocks in domestic gardens and non-domestic greenspaces across a typical mid-sized U.K. city (Leicester, 73 km(2), 56% greenspace), and map citywide distribution of this ecosystem service. SOC was measured in topsoil and compared to surrounding extra-urban agricultural land. Average SOC storage in the city's greenspace was 9.9 kg m(-2), to 21 cm depth. SOC concentrations under trees and shrubs in domestic gardens were greater than all other land-covers, with total median storage of 13.5 kg m(-2) to 21 cm depth, more than 3 kg m(-2) greater than any other land-cover class in domestic and non-domestic greenspace and 5 kg m(-2) greater than in arable land. Land-cover did not significantly affect SOC concentrations in non-domestic greenspace, but values beneath trees were higher than under both pasture and arable land, whereas concentrations under shrub and herbaceous land-covers were only higher than arable fields. We conclude that although differences in greenspace management affect SOC stocks, trees only marginally increase these stocks in non-domestic greenspaces, but may enhance them in domestic gardens, and greenspace topsoils hold substantial SOC stores that require protection from further expansion of artificial surfaces e.g. patios and driveways.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK. Electronic address: j.edmondson@sheffield.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Jill L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Edmondson
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK; Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NR, UK.
authors.forename: Zoe G
authors.initials: ZG
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK; Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 0QB, UK.
authors.forename: Sarah A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: McCormack
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK; Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK.
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Gaston
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
authors.forename: Jonathan R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Leake
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis*; D057965:Carbon Sequestration; D002947:Cities; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D016468:Forestry / Q000379:methods; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D014507:Urbanization / Q000639:trends
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D002244:Carbon
keywords: Ecosystem services; Gardens; Non-domestic greenspace; Urban greenspace; Urban soils