Abstract

Trees are a precious ecological, aesthetic, economic and educational asset to institutions of higher education. The University of North Carolina Asheville has signed the nationwide Carbon Commitment and is now committed to becoming net carbon neutral by the year 2050. The goal of this research was to assess the current carbon stock of campus trees and predict future carbon sequestration. In collaboration with the NC Forest Service, a plot-sampled inventory was taken of two satellite forested properties of UNC Asheville: the Urban Forest (23 ha) and Sandy Bottom Preserve (12 ha). Each surveyed tree was identified to species and the diameter at breast height was recorded. The inventory procedures followed those developed for the i-Tree Eco tool, which was used to calculate carbon storage and to forecast future carbon sequestration. It was found that the Urban Forest stores around 3,450 metric tons of carbon and sequesters 75.5 metric tons of carbon annually, while the Sandy Bottom Preserve stores 946.2 tons of carbon and sequesters 65.1 metric tons each year. To enhance the services provided by these trees, it is recommended that invasive species removal take place in addition to selective tree removal, both standard forestry practices. The information collected from this project determined that about 0.78% of the university’s annual carbon emissions are currently being offset by the sampled urban forests. Two additional forested properties owned by the university remain to be surveyed and once they are analyzed for carbon sequestration, they will contribute to a greater offset of emissions. Additionally, this study contributes to the campus Climate Action Plan by providing land management recommendations to increase carbon storage potential in the University’s forests.

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