Carbon storage of Euphorbia balsamifera on the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands

Abstract

uphorbia balsamifera is the dominant species in the vegetation community of “tabaibal dulce” or sweet spurge scrub. It is accompanied by other relevant species such as Schizogyne sericea, Plocama pendula or Kleinia neriifolia. This scrub ecosystem is well represented in the Canary Islands, contributing with a significant amount of biomass and therefore having a role in the reduction and compensation of the carbon footprint. The main objective of this work is to estimate the biomass and the carbon content stored by E. balsamifera in the sweet spurge scrub on the island of Tenerife. We studied the coverage of E. balsamifera within the sweet spurge scrub. We set up 15 plots on the island of Tenerife considering different elevations to get a good characterization of the community throughout its distribution. Our data show that E. balsamifera has on average, a 35% of coverage within this plant community. We then estimated the aerial biomass of E. balsamifera per unit area. In total, 21 individuals with different sizes and morphologies were cut off in well preserved areas of sweet spurge scrub. Additionally, we measured volumetric data from each individual. Biomass per unit area and plant coverage were then used to estimate the total amount of carbon stored by E. balsamifera on Tenerife. Finally, we developed an allometric equation to estimate the aerial biomass (fresh and dry) for the species from morphometric data, to avoid the use of destructive methods when estimating biomass in future research. This study showed the contribution of E. balsamifera on carbon storage of the Canarian coastal vegetation and will be useful for future management measures aiming to offset the carbon footprint of Tenerife.