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The amount of carbon dioxide that a laurel tree can store (Količina ugljikovog dioksida koju stablo lovora može pohraniti)
Organization(s):Srednja škola Braća Radić, Srednja škola Braća Radić
Student(s):Petra Brčić, Katarina Dragun, Deni Antolić
Grade Level:Secondary School (grades 9-12, ages 14-18)
GLOBE Educator(s):Ivanka Stipoljev, Mihajlo Lerinc
Contributors:
Report Type(s):Standard Research Report
Protocols:Air Temperature, Precipitation, Biometry (including Tree Height), Carbon Cycle, Land Cover Classification
Language(s):Croatian
Date Submitted:01/29/2023
As part of the GLOBE program, we are conducting biometric measurements in park in Kaštel Lukšić dominated by Laurus nobilis L. from the hardwood group. Using biometric measurements, we investigated the extent to which abiotic factors influence the amount of carbon stored in the laurel tree. GLOBE Protocols for biometrics, MUC, and atmosphere for the period from 2017 to 2021 were used in the paper. Aboveground tree biomass, dry mass, and carbon mass in dry mass were calculated from the biometric data for the mentioned period using the allometric equation. During the study period, laurel tree varied in growth and the mass of carbon stored in the tree from 2017 to 2021 because of the different intensity of photosynthesis due to the different amounts and distributions of precipitation and air temperatures. We also compared the data to the average CO2 emissions from cars in a year. On average, a laurel tree about 15 years old sequesters a small amount of CO2, 7.5 ‰ of the total average annual CO2 emissions from a car. In order to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and thus the consequences of global warming, when planting trees, in addition to species diversity, it is desirable to choose species from the softwood group (gymnosperms) because they grow faster, absorb more CO2 from the atmosphere, and store more carbon in the biomass.