Assessment of Carbon Sequestration Potential of Tree species in Amity University Campus Noida

Urban green spaces, particularly trees have a great potential to sequester carbon from the atmosphere and mitigate the impacts of climate change in cities. Large university campuses offer prominent space where such green spaces can be developed in order to offset the increasing greenhouse gas emissions, apart from other benefits. Amity University, Noida is spread over 60 acres with dense tree plantations in and around the campus. The present study is a sustainability initiative to inventory the tree species in the campus and assess their total carbon sequestration potential (CSP). The above and below ground biomass were estimated using the non-destructive sampling method. Individual trees in the campus were measured for their height and diameter at breast height (DBH) and estimates of carbon storage were done using allometric equations. There are a total of 45 different tree species within the campus with the total CSP equivalent to approximately 139.86 tons. The results also reveal that Ficus benjamina was the predominant species in the campus with CSP equivalent to 30.53 tons, followed by Alstonia scholaris with carbon storage of 16.38 tons. The study reports that the ratio of native to exotic species is 22:23 or almost 1:1. The present work highlights the role of urban forests or urban green spaces not only as ornamental and aesthetic plantations, but also in mitigating the impacts of climate change at a local level. Higher education institutes have an important role in expanding their green cover so as to act as local carbon sinks.