Carbon Sequestration by the Terrestrial Soil-Plant System in a Heavily Polluted Area of Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia

With the increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide, there is a growing public and scientific concern over the carbon sequestration potential of soil/plant system. The objectives of the present study are: to assess the effect of carbon emission from industrial area, Riyadh City, on the Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) concentration and carbon stored by two plant species Calotropisprocera and Phragmitesaustralis to provide specific information for estimating the carbon sequestration potential of Soil/Plant system of selected polluted area. In the present study, soil organic carbon content ranged from 0.025 g C kg⁻¹ at location I associated with Phragmitesaustralis to 0.097 g C kg⁻¹ at location III associated with Calotropisprocera. Results showed that leaves of the studied species sequestered more TOC than the corresponding roots. The present study concluded that, both studied plants could be instrumental in formulating efficient strategies related to carbon sequestration and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the studied area.