Carbon sequestration and other ecosystem services provided by urban citrus trees: a case study in a Mediterranean city

Citrus trees are important for food production and provide numerous ecosystem services that enhance environmental sustainability.
They contribute to carbon sequestration, oxygen production, removal of air pollutants, and to create shading, while also influencing the water cycle through transpiration and rainwater retention.
They also produce volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are valued by some people.
Commonly found in urban areas, particularly in Mediterranean cities, these trees contribute to climate change resilience, benefiting both people and the environment.
To quantify the ecosystem services of urban citrus trees, we used the city of Faro (Portugal) as a case study, where trees in urban areas ranged in height from 1 to 6.7 m.
Using the i-Tree Eco model, we found that CO₂ sequestration ranged from 3.7 to 132 kg tree^‑1 year^‑1, with carbon storage varying between 0.700 and 778 kg tree^‑1. The trees produced between 2.70 and 95.7 kg tree^‑1 year¹ of O₂ and removed between 0.700 and 48.7 g tree^‑1 year^‑1 of PM₁₀ (inhalable particulate matter with a diameter of 10 microns or less), as well as between 0.100 and 3.90 g tree^‑1 year^‑1 of PM_2.5 (inhalable particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less). The production of VOCs ranged from 0.700 to 50.8 g year^‑1. This study showed that citrus trees in Mediterranean cities can have an important role to promote climate change resilience and to improve air quality, contributing to human health and well-being, while providing food, making them valuable to sustainable urban ecosystems.

XV International Citrus Congress

P. Matias, M. Moreira da Silva, A. Duarte

climate change resilience, environment, air pollutants, water interception, i-Tree Eco model, lemon, mandarin, orange

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2026.1448.52