Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is one of the most abundant anthropogenic greenhouse gases contributing to increase air temperature. Urban areas covered by parks, gardens, tree-lined avenues, sport s fields, and hedges are important sinks for CO 2 . Urban green areas should include the Botanical Gardens, taking into consideration their key role in ex situ plant conservation as well as air quality amelioration and social benefits. In such context, the CO 2 sequestration capability of the most representative plant collections developing in the Botanical Garden of Rome and their influence on microclimate w as analyzed. Our results highlight that plant collections have a CO 2 sequestration capability of 6947 Mg CO 2 year -1 . The CO 2 sequestration capability and air temperature lowering by plant collections growing in the Botanical Garden have positive effects (p ≤ 0.05) on the surrounding area resulting in 4% CO 2 concentration and 1°C air temperature decreasing at 150 m from the centre of the Garden.
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