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The spatial distribution of fossil fuel CO2 traced by Δ14C in the leaves of gingko (Ginkgo biloba L.) in Beijing City, China

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Abstract

Atmospheric fossil fuel CO2 (CO2ff ) information is an important reference for local government to formulate energy-saving and emission reduction in China. The CO2ff spatial distribution in Beijing City was traced by Δ14C in the leaves of gingko (Ginkgo biloba L.) from late March to September in 2009. The Δ14C values were in the range of −35.2 ± 2.8∼15.5 ± 3.2 ‰ (average 3.4 ± 11.8 ‰), with high values found at suburban sites (average 12.8 ± 3.1 ‰) and low values at road sites (average −8.4 ± 18.1 ‰). The CO2ff concentrations varied from 11.6 ± 3.7 to 32.5 ± 9.0 ppm, with an average of 16.4 ± 4.9 ppm. The CO2ff distribution in Beijing City showed spatial heterogeneity. CO2ff hotspots were found at road sites resulted from the emission from vehicles, while low CO2ff concentrations were found at suburban sites because of the less usage of fossil fuels. Additionally, CO2ff concentrations in the northwest area were generally higher than those in the southeast area due to the disadvantageous topography.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No 41303072, 41573136), Young scholar project of Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Y354011480), the Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province, China (2014JQ2-4018), and the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province, China (2013J05063). The anonymous reviewers are acknowledged for their valuable comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an, China

    Zhenchuan Niu, Weijian Zhou, Dongxia Zhang, Xuefeng Lu, Peng Cheng, Shugang Wu, Xiaohu Xiong, Hua Du & Yunchong Fu

  2. Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, China

    Zhenchuan Niu

  3. Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Zhenchuan Niu & Xiaoshan Zhang

  4. Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Technology and Application, National Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry in Xi’an, Xi’an, China

    Zhenchuan Niu, Weijian Zhou, Dongxia Zhang, Xuefeng Lu, Peng Cheng, Shugang Wu, Xiaohu Xiong, Hua Du & Yunchong Fu

  5. Department of Environmental Sciences, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an, China

    Sen Wang

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  1. Zhenchuan Niu
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  2. Weijian Zhou
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  3. Xiaoshan Zhang
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  4. Sen Wang
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  9. Xiaohu Xiong
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  10. Hua Du
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  11. Yunchong Fu
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Correspondence to Zhenchuan Niu.

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Niu, Z., Zhou, W., Zhang, X. et al. The spatial distribution of fossil fuel CO2 traced by Δ14C in the leaves of gingko (Ginkgo biloba L.) in Beijing City, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 556–562 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5211-2

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