Ecosystem services promoted by “novel ecosystems” in an urban landscape in Southeast Brazil: carbon storage and sequestration

Abstract Ecosystem services require robust quantification to support effective environmental management, particularly in urban landscapes increasingly shaped by anthropogenic disturbance. Novel ecosystems (NE) are common in cities but remain underrepresented in ecosystem services assessments. In this study, we quantified and compared carbon storage and sequestration provided by urban forest fragments, including two novel ecosystems (NE1 and NE2), and a conserved rural Atlantic Forest fragment in Southeastern Brazil. Phytosociological data from standardized forest inventories (10 plots of 20 × 20 m per fragment) were analyzed using the i-Tree Eco v.6.1 model to estimate carbon stocks, annual sequestration, and associated economic valuation. Our results show that fragment NE1 had the lowest carbon stock (96 t CO 2 Equivalent/ha) and sequestration (16.52 t CO 2 Equiv./ha/year), while NE2, had the highest stock (388.75 t CO 2 Equiv./ha) and sequestration (42.45 t CO 2 Equiv./ha/year) among the NE. The native forest fragment had a carbon stock of 681.25 t/ha of CO 2 Equiv. and a sequestration of annual sequestration of 44.50 t CO 2 Equiv./ha/year. Differences between novel ecosystems were strongly associated with land-use history, species dominance, and successional trajectories, with NE1 reflecting ecological homogenization following landfill and monoculture planting of Eremanthus erythropappus (DC.) MacLeish, whereas NE2 benefited from long-term natural regeneration despite dominance by Pinus elliottii Engelm. Our findings demonstrate that established novel urban ecosystems can provide carbon-related ecosystem services comparable to conserved forests, highlighting their potential role as complementary components of urban green infrastructure. However, these benefits should be interpreted cautiously, as carbon gains may coexist with ecological tradeoffs not captured by single-service assessments.