Journal article
The overlooked carbon loss due to decayed wood in urban trees
L Orozco-Aguilar, D Johnstone, SJ Livesley, C Brack
Urban Forestry and Urban Greening | ELSEVIER GMBH | Published : 2018
Abstract
Decayed wood is a common issue in urban trees that deteriorates tree vitality over time, yet its effect on biomass yield therefore stored carbon has been overlooked. We mapped the occurrence and calculated the extent of decayed wood in standing Ulmus procera, Platanus × acerifolia and Corymbia maculata trees. The main stem of 43 trees was measured every metre from the ground to the top by two skilled arborists. All trees were micro-drilled in two to four axes at three points along the stem (0.3 m, 1.3 m, 2.3 m), and at the tree's live crown. A total of 300 drilling profiles were assessed for decay. Simple linear regression analysis tested the correlation of decayed wood (cm2) against a vital..
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Funding Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the support facilitated by the Melbourne city council for providing financial aid, granting permission and getting access to their records and data bases to select sampled trees. We wish to acknowledge the support of Arboriculture Australia and in particular to William Dunlop, William Maccabee and, Chis Wright for the valuable assistance and knowledge shared in the field. We would also like to thank the Frank Keenan Trust Fund and the Madeleine Selwyn Smith Memorial Fund Scholarship for the research funds granted.