Comparison of methods for estimating carbon dioxide storage by Sacramento’s urban forest

Urban forests are important carbon sinks, but there is little information on urban tree biomass allometry. This chapter used 640 ground-sampled trees in the Sacramento, CA, metropolitan region to compare the carbon storage results calculated using three different tools and one set of general urban equations developed for this publication. Each tree was run through i-Tree Eco, i-Tree Streets, and the Center for Urban Forest Research Tree Carbon Calculator (CTCC) and the appropriate general equation. Differences at the species level were often quite large, with total carbon storage differences as high as eight-fold. Scaled up to the plot level (plots = 0.04 ha) and the region, however, these differences tended to even out, with a maximum difference between plots of 29%. I-Tree Eco results were generally the lowest of the four methods.