How These 6 Trees Are Making Houston a Healthier Place
Buffalo Bayou Park and its wealth of greenery.
Shade trees are critical to a city’s infrastructure. They soak up significant volumes of water to reduce stormwater runoff, contribute significantly to the energy efficiency of buildings, and remove pollutants (carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide) from the air. And much like Houston’s parks, the city desperately needs more of them. Which makes one nonprofit’s ambitious plans all the more welcome. In partnership with the City's Climate Action Plan and Resilient Houston, Houston Wilderness plans to plant 4.6 million trees in and around the city by the year 2030 to help capture harmful carbon particles and reduce the effects of climate change. These are the top six tree species being planted and the impact they’ll have on the environment.
|
Species of Native Tree |
Number of trees to be planted per year |
Carbon sequestered per tree (lbs/yr) |
Total carbon sequestered (lbs/yr) |
|
Live Oak |
150,000 |
268 |
40,200,000 |
|
Laurel Oak |
75,000 |
194 |
14,550,000 |
|
River Birch |
50,000 |
215 |
10,750,000 |
|
Red Maple |
50,000 |
139 |
6,950,000 |
|
Loblolly Pine |
50,000 |
106 |
5,300,000 |
|
American Elm |
25,000 |
114 |
2,850,000 |
