By Candace Currie
Carbon storage : “ Carbon storage is the amount of carbon bound up in the above-ground and below-ground parts of woody vegetation .” ( i-Tree 2016 )
Carbon sequestration : “ Carbon sequestration is the removal of carbon dioxide from the air by plants .” ( i-Tree 2016 )
Mount Auburn ’ s trees provide ecosystem benefits or services . Those services of air pollution removal , carbon storage and sequestration , oxygen production , runoff avoidance , and structural value 1 are integral to the cultural and natural landscape of Mount Auburn . They can be felt on a hot summer day when one is hidden under the canopy of a European beech ( Fagus sylvatica ), or when one steps off the number 71 bus and walks through the iconic Egyptian Gateway into Mount Auburn ’ s oxygen-producing landscape . These benefits have real value .
As part of her horticultural apprenticeship at Mount Auburn , Alexandra Wolfe calculated the ecosystem benefits provided by 1,047 trees in seven horticultural sections comprising 33 acres of Mount Auburn , utilizing the i-Tree software program . i-Tree is a state-of-the-art , peer-reviewed software suite from the Forest Service , an agency of U . S . Department of Agriculture . It provides urban ( and rural ) forestry analysis and benefits assessment tools available to anyone via the web :
https :// www . itreetools . org /. ( For more details see Appendix on Carbon Sequestration and Mount Auburn ’ s Trees ). When extrapolating the services and benefits from the trees in the 33 acres of this study across all of Mount Auburn ’ s 175 acres , the benefits are tree-mendous
2 .
Figure 1 - Map of Sample Plots ( in pink ) used by i-Tree created by Alexandra Wolfe . November 13 , 2020 . Map data sourced from Mount Auburn GIS Department .
1
Based on a species and age compared with the cost of replacement of a similar tree
2
Sorry , I can ’ t help myself . ccurrie
Mount Auburn Cemetery | Climate Action & Sustainability Plan 33