• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.64-73
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• 2022

Increasing carbon and PM_2.5 concentrations have been emerging as serious environmental issues worldwide. The purpose of this study was to quantify carbon and PM_2.5 reduction by urban parks in Gangneung, Korea. A total of 35 parks were sampled by applying a random sampling method to survey tree planting structures and the areal distribution of land cover types of urban parks. These survey data and the Green Evaluation Technique (GET) computer program were used to estimate carbon and PM_2.5 reduction by trees. Mean tree density and cover in the study parks were 3.5±0.2 tree/100 m² and 44.5±3.0%, respectively. Annual carbon uptake and PM_2.5 deposition per unit area by trees averaged 2.8±0.2 t/ha/yr and 30.2±2.8 kg/ha/yr. Gangneung's urban parks annually offset the carbon emissions by 3.4% and the PM_2.5 emissions by 3.5%. Thus, urban parks played a significant role in reducing atmospheric carbon and PM_2.5 concentrations. Total annual carbon uptake and PM_2.5 deposition of urban parks in Gangneung were about 1,338.2 t/yr and 14,433.2 kg/yr. This study is expected to contribute to raising awareness of the role and importance of urban parks regarding carbon and PM_2.5 reduction.