Biomass Distribution and Aboveground Carbon Stock in Green Retaining Walls Covered with <i>Hedera colchica</i>
PLANTS-BASEL, cilt.15, sa.19, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 15 Sayı: 19
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.3390/plants15193030
- Dergi Adı: PLANTS-BASEL
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, Directory of Open Access Journals, Natural Science Collection (ProQuest), Biological Science Database (ProQuest)
- Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Green retaining walls are among the nature-based solutions that can contribute to climate change mitigation by increasing carbon storage capacity in urban areas. This study aimed to determine the aboveground biomass, aboveground carbon stock, and CO2-equivalent values of Hedera colchica growing on green retaining walls and to evaluate the relationships among these parameters. Branch and leaf components were assessed separately in 16 samples. Oven-dry biomass, dry matter content, aboveground carbon stock, and CO2 equivalent were calculated, and relationships among the variables were examined using Pearson correlation and regression analyses. The results showed that the branch component had significantly higher oven-dry biomass (384.08 vs. 219.62 g m(-2)), dry matter content (52.75% vs. 38.35%), aboveground carbon stock (192.04 vs. 109.81 g C m(-2)), and CO2-equivalent values (704.79 vs. 403.00 g CO(2)e m(-2)) than the leaf component (p < 0.01). A very strong positive relationship was identified between total dry biomass and oven-dry branch biomass (r = 0.928, p < 0.001), while mean branch diameter showed the strongest relationship with total dry biomass and total aboveground carbon stock (r = 0.803, p < 0.001). In the regression analyses, linear models based on mean branch diameter explained 59.6% of the variation in branch biomass, branch aboveground carbon stock, and branch CO2 equivalent and 64.6% of the variation in the corresponding total values. By contrast, leaf biomass, leaf aboveground carbon stock, and leaf CO2 equivalent were better described by power models (R-2 = 0.319). The leaf-to-branch ratio and leaf mass fraction showed significant positive relationships with leaf carbon stock and CO2 equivalent, whereas branch mass fraction showed significant negative relationships with these variables. No significant relationships were found between residual moisture content after air drying and carbon-storage indicators. The findings suggest that Hedera colchica-covered retaining walls may contribute to aboveground carbon-storage ecosystem services, while mean branch diameter may serve as a useful site-specific morphological indicator for estimating biomass and carbon stock, highlighting the potential contribution of Hedera colchica-covered retaining walls to aboveground carbon storage under the site-specific conditions examined in this study.