Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Exhibit Hall A, David L Lawrence Convention Center
Taylor Keen, Facilities Management, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, Allen Dawson, Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland, College Park, MD and Joe H. Sullivan, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Background/Question/Methods The University of Maryland’s core campus is situated centrally within the Anacostia Watershed, a portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, and is within the boundaries of the City of College Park, Prince George's County, Maryland. It is comprised of a diverse mosaic of ~1,200 acres of built and naturalized landscapes. As part of a Campus Climate Action Plan under the direction of the Center for Integrative Environmental Research (CIER) we conducted an assessment of the vegetation structure, function, and value of the campus's urban forest during the summer of 2008. This vegetation and land cover analysis was prompted by a need for an estimation of total land cover, carbon sequestration and storage, and building energy savings provided by the campus's trees. Data from 101 1/10th acre random field plots located throughout the campus of the University of Maryland were analyzed using the Urban Forest Effects (UFORE) model developed by the U.S. Forest Service. In each plot, the species, DBH, crown dimensions and integrity of every "tree" whose stem was over 1.0 inch in diameter was recorded, as was herbaceous shrub composition and coverage. Percent plot groundcover composition was also recorded in order to provide an indication of the degree of soil perviousness and potential to support future vegetation.
Results/Conclusions The campus urban forest was found to have an estimated 166,000 trees with total canopy coverage of 29.2 percent and a structural value, or replacement cost of these trees, of $81.5 million (USD). Carbon storage of campus trees was estimated at 22,400 metric tons (valued at $510 thousand), with carbon sequestration rates of 683 metric tons/year ($15.6 thousand) and airborne pollutant (CO NO2, O3, PM10, SO2) removal totaling 17 metric tons/year ($91.3 thousand). The estimated offset value of the campus trees' ability to lower annual energy costs and carbon emission reductions was $91.2 thousand. Having a quantification of the scope and scale of the campus's environmental resources and an assessment of the urban forest's structure will serve as an important baseline for future analyses as well as provide a way to estimate the value and extent of ecosystem services and functions provided by the campus landscape. Knowing the value and spatial distribution of these resources can also facilitate environmental management decisions that will greatly enhance campus sustainability initiatives as well as the general health and happiness of the community at and around the University of Maryland.
