Carbon sequestration by vegetation plays an important role in the global carbon cycle. More emphasis on the carbon sequestration of roadside vegetation will help to reduce the total carbon emissions from the transportation sector. In the current study, the Shanghai-Nanjing G42 expressway in east China was selected to investigate and calculate the carbon sequestration of roadside vegetation including trees, shrubs and herbs. Findings of the current study revealed that the total carbon sequestration of all the vegetation was about 97,000 tons per year. Results also indicated that trees have a higher carbon sequestration capacity (γ) in unit land area compared to shrubs and herbs. The γ value of most of the shrubs was lower than that of tree; however, species such as Nerium indicum, Jasminum mesnyi and Forsythia suspense have better carbon sequestration capacity than some other tree species. The γ value of herbs was too low, compared with trees and shrubs. The findings of the current study will be of great benefit to make the vegetation planting strategy for express highways in the areas with similar geographic characteristics and climate.

植被对碳的固存在全球碳循环中起着重要作用。更加重视路边植被的碳固存将有助于减少交通运输部门的总碳排放量。在本研究中，选择了华东地区的沪宁G42高速公路来调查和计算包括树木，灌木和草药在内的路边植被的碳固存量。当前研究的结果表明，所有植被的总碳固存量约为每年97,000吨。结果还表明，与灌木和草药相比，树木在单位土地上的固碳能力（γ）高。大多数灌木的γ值低于树木。但是，如印度夹竹桃，茉莉花连翘和连翘具有比其他一些树种更好的固碳能力。与树木和灌木相比，草药的γ值太低。本研究的结果将对制定具有相似地理特征和气候的地区高速公路的植被种植策略有很大的帮助。