Climate Action and Sustainability Plan June 2021 | Page 114

V . Oxygen Production

Oxygen production is one of the most commonly cited benefits of urban trees . The annual oxygen production of a tree is directly related to the amount of carbon sequestered by the tree , which is tied to the accumulation of tree biomass .
Trees in Mount Auburn Cemetery Sample Plots are estimated to produce 46.82 tons of oxygen per year . ⁴ However , this tree benefit is relatively insignificant because of the large and relatively stable amount of oxygen in the atmosphere and extensive production by aquatic systems . Our atmosphere has an enormous reserve of oxygen . If all fossil fuel reserves , all trees , and all organic matter in soils were burned , atmospheric oxygen would only drop a few percent ( Broecker 1970 ).
Table 2 . The top 20 oxygen production species .
Species
Oxygen
Gross Carbon Sequestration
Number of Trees
Leaf Area
( ton )
( pound / yr )
( acre )
Sugar maple
9.74
7,308.18
90
9.82
Northern red oak
4.80
3,599.86
71
5.72
White oak
3.28
2,461.62
26
2.60
European beech
2.45
1,834.40
22
3.82
Black oak
2.02
1,517.08
25
1.76
Norway maple
1.73
1,298.99
18
2.97
Pin oak
1.60
1,202.06
15
1.40
Eastern white pine
1.44
1,078.28
66
2.88
Paper birch
1.20
898.18
20
1.11
Flowering dogwood
0.96
723.70
50
1.30
Eastern hemlock
0.78
585.91
25
2.13
Scarlet oak
0.75
560.96
13
0.72
Horse chestnut
0.71
529.65
5
0.93
oak spp
0.70
521.38
9
0.74
Norway spruce
0.63
472.36
20
1.71
Japanese maple
0.61
455.03
18
1.00
American elm
0.60
452.60
8
1.26
Tulip tree
0.60
446.55
7
1.42
apple spp
0.50
372.53
20
0.58
American beech
0.48
359.44
28
1.17
I-Tree Report of Ecosystem Analysis at Mount Auburn Cemetery Insert to the Climate Action and Sustainability Plan
Page 13