Cemeteries and ecosystem services in urban landscape: The case of Isparta province

The aim of this study is to examine the cemeteries, which have an important place in the urban open green space system, as sample areas selected from the city of Isparta; It is the evaluation of various ecosystem services such as tree characteristics, air pollution removal, carbon storage and oxygen production in Gülcü Cemetery, Isparta Garrison Martyrdom-Karaağaç Cemetery and Akyol Cemetery. In the study where the i-Tree Eco model was used in data analysis; Land use type, tree species, tree diameter at chest height-DBH (cm), tree height (m), live crown height (m), crown height from the ground (m) and percentage of lost crown were used. According to the research findings, trees in cemeteries capture approximately 47,22 tons of carbon and store 6.770 tons of carbon annually. In addition, plants in cemeteries prevent a runoff of approximately 373,6 m3 per year and remove 35,55 kg of air pollutants. Finally, it was calculated that the trees in the cemetery produce 125,89 tons of oxygen annually. However, in order to produce better regulatory ecosystem services, it is recommended to increase the diversity of plant species used in cemetery designs and to manage them in a disciplined way.