The tree-mendous environmental benefit of the riverfront canopy
The riverfront tree survey is almost complete. With trees counted and mapped, we are now beginning to quantify the environmental benefit of the trees on the Memphis riverfront. (Yes, it’s more than the shade they provide on a blazing hot Memphis summer day.) Trees also remove and sequester carbon and other airborne pollutants, capture rain and calm stormwater runoff.
Using tools developed by USDA Forest Service and provided by Reimagining Civic Commons, we have analyzed the impact of the 64 trees in River Garden and 56 trees in Fourth Bluff Park. These two parks, and the trees they contain, provide significant environmental benefits today, and for years to come.
Each year, the tree canopy in Fourth Bluff Park and River Garden removes nearly 18,000 pounds of CO² from the atmosphere and cleans the air of more than 100 pounds of pollutants.
The best part is, trees only become more effective as they age and grow (as long as they are well looked after). Over the next 50 years, the trees of Fourth Bluff Park and River Garden will bring more than $94,000 in economic benefits.
By the Numbers
Fourth Bluff Park
- Trees — 56
- Species —15
- CO² sequestered — 9,778 pounds
- Airborne pollutants removed — 64 pounds
- Rainfall intercepted — 78,000 gallons
- Stormwater removed from city drains — 13,440 gallons
River Garden
- Trees — 64
- Species — 18
- CO² sequestered — 8,063 pounds
- Airborne pollutants removed — 41 pounds
- Rainfall intercepted — 51,290 gallons
- Stormwater removed from city drains — 8,834 gallons
What’s it all mean?
- Carbon sequestration is the process in which trees intake CO2 from the air and use it to grow, creating more healthy tree for us to enjoy. This carbon becomes stored in the tree as it ages and its root system, trunk, and canopy expand over its lifetime.
- Air pollution is either removed or avoided through trees in a similar process to carbon sequestration, with leaves absorbing pollutants, releasing oxygen through photosynthesis, and lowering air temperatures, reducing the production of ozone.
- Stormwater and rain is intercepted either being absorbed into the root system or stopped from hitting the ground by the upper canopy of trees.
