Urban Trees and Water Use in Arid Climates: Insights from an Integrated Bioeconomic-Health Model

2018 ◽  
Vol 04 (04) ◽  
pp. 1850022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin A. Jones ◽  
John Fleck
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Urban Trees ◽  
Tree Cover ◽  
Arid Environments ◽  
Value Of Water ◽  
Health Model

Managing outdoor water use while maintaining urban tree cover is a key challenge for water managers in arid climates. Urban trees generate flows of ecosystem services in arid areas, but also require significant amounts of irrigation. In this paper, a bioeconomic-health model of trees and water use is developed to investigate management of an urban forest canopy when irrigation is costly, water has economic value, and trees provide ecosystem services. The optimal tree irrigation decision is illustrated for Albuquerque, New Mexico, an arid Southwest US city. Using a range of monetary values for water, we find that the tree irrigation decision is sensitive to the value selected. Urban deforestation is optimal when the value of water is sufficiently high, or alternatively starts low, but grows to cross a specific threshold. If, however, the value of water is sufficiently low or if the value of tree cover rises over time, then deforestation is not optimal. The threshold value of water where the switch is made between zero and partial deforestation is well within previously identified ranges on actual water values. This model can be applied generally to study the tradeoffs between urban trees and water use in arid environments.

scholarly journals ASSESSING URBAN FOREST CANOPY COVER IN GREAT PLAIN CONSERVATION AREA (DÜZCE CITY, TURKEY) BETWEEN 1984 AND 2015

2021 ◽  
Vol XLVI-4/W5-2021 ◽  
pp. 539-544
Author(s):  
Z. Uçar ◽  
R. Eker ◽  
A. Aydin
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Urban Trees ◽  
Conservation Area ◽  
Urban Tree ◽  
Tree Canopy Cover ◽  
Urban Tree Canopy

Abstract. Urban trees and forests are essential components of the urban environment. They can provide numerous ecosystem services and goods, including but not limited to recreational opportunities and aesthetic values, removal of air pollutants, improving air and water quality, providing shade and cooling effect, reducing energy use, and storage of atmospheric CO2. However, urban trees and forests have been in danger of being lost by dense housing resulting from population growth in the cities since the 1950s, leading to increased local temperature, pollution level, and flooding risk. Thus, determining the status of urban trees and forests is necessary for comprehensive understanding and quantifying the ecosystem services and goods. Tree canopy cover is a relatively quick, easy to obtain, and cost-effective urban forestry metric broadly used to estimate ecosystem services and goods of the urban forest. This study aimed to determine urban forest canopy cover areas and monitor the changes between 1984–2015 for the Great Plain Conservation area (GPCA) that has been declared as a conservation Area (GPCA) in 2017, located on the border of Düzce City (Western Black Sea Region of Turkey). Although GPCA is a conservation area for agricultural purposes, it consists of the city center with 250,000 population and most settlement areas. A random point sampling approach, the most common sampling approach, was applied to estimate urban tree canopy cover and their changes over time from historical aerial imageries. Tree canopy cover ranged from 16.0% to 27.4% within the study period. The changes in urban canopy cover between 1984–1999 and 1999–2015 were statistically significant, while there was no statistical difference compared to the changes in tree canopy cover between 1984–2015. The result of the study suggested that an accurate estimate of urban tree canopy cover and monitoring long-term canopy cover changes are essential to determine the current situation and the trends for the future. It will help city planners and policymakers in decision-making processes for the future of urban areas.

scholarly journals Tree Cover for the Year 2010 of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo, Brazil

Data ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 145
Author(s):  
Fabien H. Wagner ◽  
Mayumi C.M. Hirye
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Sao Paulo ◽  
Urban Trees ◽  
Aerial Photographs ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Tree Cover ◽  
São Paulo ◽  
The World

Mapping urban trees with images at a very high spatial resolution (≤1 m) is a particularly relevant recent challenge due to the need to assess the ecosystem services they provide. However, due to the effort needed to produce these maps from tree censuses or with remote sensing data, few cities in the world have a complete tree cover map. Here, we present the tree cover data at 1-m spatial resolution of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo, Brazil, the fourth largest urban agglomeration in the world. This dataset, based on 71 orthorectified RGB aerial photographs taken in 2010 at 1-m spatial resolution, was produced using a deep learning method for image segmentation called U-net. The model was trained with 1286 images of size 64 × 64 pixels at 1-m spatial resolution, containing one or more trees or only background, and their labelled masks. The validation was based on 322 images of the same size not used in the training and their labelled masks. The map produced by the U-net algorithm showed an excellent level of accuracy, with an overall accuracy of 96.4% and an F1-score of 0.941 (precision = 0.945 and recall = 0.937). This dataset is a valuable input for the estimation of urban forest ecosystem services, and more broadly for urban studies or urban ecological modelling of the São Paulo Metropolitan Region.

scholarly journals Detecting Long-Term Urban Forest Cover Change and Impacts of Natural Disasters Using High-Resolution Aerial Images and LiDAR Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1820
Author(s):  
Raoul Blackman ◽  
Fei Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
High Spatial Resolution ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Urban Canopy ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Random Point ◽  
Aerial Images ◽  
Lidar Data

Urban forests provide ecosystem services; tree canopy cover is the basic quantification of ecosystem services. Ground assessment of the urban forest is limited; with continued refinement, remote sensing can become an essential tool for analyzing the urban forest. This study addresses three research questions that are essential for urban forest management using remote sensing: (1) Can object-based image analysis (OBIA) and non-image classification methods (such as random point-based evaluation) accurately determine urban canopy coverage using high-spatial-resolution aerial images? (2) Is it possible to assess the impact of natural disturbances in addition to other factors (such as urban development) on urban canopy changes in the classification map created by OBIA? (3) How can we use Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data and technology to extract urban canopy metrics accurately and effectively? The urban forest canopy area and location within the City of St Peter, Minnesota (MN) boundary between 1938 and 2019 were defined using both OBIA and random-point-based methods with high-spatial-resolution aerial images. Impacts of natural disasters, such as the 1998 tornado and tree diseases, on the urban canopy cover area, were examined. Finally, LiDAR data was used to determine the height, density, crown area, diameter, and volume of the urban forest canopy. Both OBIA and random-point methods gave accurate results of canopy coverages. The OBIA is relatively more time-consuming and requires specialist knowledge, whereas the random-point-based method only shows the total coverage of the classes without locational information. Canopy change caused by tornado was discernible in the canopy OBIA-based classification maps while the change due to diseases was undetectable. To accurately exact urban canopy metrics besides tree locations, dense LiDAR point cloud data collected at the leaf-on season as well as algorithms or software developed specifically for urban forest analysis using LiDAR data are needed.

scholarly journals Estimation of Ecosystem Services Provided by Street Trees in Kyoto, Japan

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 311
Author(s):  
Xiaoyang Tan ◽  
Satoshi Hirabayashi ◽  
Shozo Shibata
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Urban Trees ◽  
Street Trees ◽  
Flowering Dogwood ◽  
Runoff Reduction ◽  
Kyoto City ◽  
Salix Babylonica

Street trees are integral components of urban green infrastructure. The importance of benefits provided by street trees has motivated the development of various tools to quantify the value of ecosystem services. The i-Tree Eco is a widely applied method for quantifying urban forest structure, ecosystem services, and values. Since its first release in 2006, i-Tree Eco has been successfully utilized in over 100 countries around the world. This study described one of the first applications of the i-Tree Eco international project in Kyoto, Japan, by customizing the models and parameters to enhance the accuracy of analysis results. Kyoto’s street trees are prominently dominated by Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba L.), Trident Maple (Acer buergerianum Miq.), Japanese Zelkova (Zelkova serrata (Thunb.) Makino.), Tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera L.), Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida L.), London Planetree (Platanus × acerifolia), Plum/cherry (Prunus spp.), and Weeping willow (Salix babylonica), which account for 92% of the 1230 sample trees and deliver ecosystem service benefits at US$71,434.21 annually or US$58.07/tree/year. The annual value of each function was estimated at US$41.34/tree for carbon storage and sequestration, US$3.26/tree for stormwater runoff reduction, US$11.80/tree for adverse health mitigation effects, and US$1.67/tree for energy savings. The street tree species of Kyoto city that produce the highest average annual benefits are among the largest trees currently in the population, including P. × yedoensis (US$225.32/tree), Z. serrata (US$123.21/tree), S. babylonica (US$80.10/tree), and P. × acerifolia (US$65.88/tree). Our results demonstrated a comprehensive understanding of street trees benefits for Kyoto city, providing baseline information for decision-makers and managers to make effective urban trees management decisions, developing policy, and setting priorities.

scholarly journals Measuring benefits of rural-to-urban water transfer

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juanli Wang ◽  
Yongxi Ma ◽  
Alan Collins
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Contingent Valuation Method ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Water Transfer ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Valuation Method ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
Water Value ◽  
Value Of Water ◽  
Urbanization In China

Agriculture-to-urban water transfer is currently an important measure to meet the increasing water demand result from rapid industrialization and urbanization in China. Not only measuring benefits of agriculture-to-urban water transfer is critical to assess water transfer proposals, but also it can provide reliable basis for redistributing the benefits of agriculture-to-urban water transfer. This paper has developed a comprehensive framework in which Production Function Approach (PFA) is applied to quantify the value of water use in agricultural and industrial sectors, and Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) is employed to investigate the value of water use in municipal consumption and ecological environment. A case study from Zhuji in China verified the feasibility and validity of the method proposed in the paper. Results indicate that the Agriculture-to-urban water transfer increases the water value created by improving allocation efficiency of water use in different sectors. The benefits of agriculture-to-urban water transfer mainly origin from the fact that the economic value in industrial water-use are higher than which in the other sectors’ water-use. Meanwhile, the urban residents have a stronger desire to improve the water eco-environment which lead to higher water value in urban area.

scholarly journals The Eye of the Storm: Extreme Weather Events and Sustainable Urban Forest Management

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kendra Marshman
Keyword(s):  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Urban Canopy ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Urban Trees ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Ice Storms ◽  
Weather Events

More people live in cities today than ever before. One indicator of a sustainable urban environment is a full canopy cover. Urban residents value trees for the benefits of improved air quality, provision of shade, and aesthetic purposes, among others. Although urban trees are greatly valued, they are up against environmental challenges. Global climate change threatens urban forests because of the accompanying increase in frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Hurricanes, intense precipitation, windstorms, and ice storms, are included. In Halifax (2003) Hurricane Juan negatively affected the urban forest canopy and some areas have not fully recovered. Similarly, in Vancouver’s Stanley Park (2006 & 2007) an extreme windstorm hit the urban canopy. How can urban forest planners adapt the urban forest to become more resilient in the face of such events?

scholarly journals Origins of the Chicago Urban Forest: Composition and Structure in Relation to Presettlement Vegetation and Modern Land Use

2012 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 181-193
Author(s):  
Robert Fahey ◽  
Marlin Bowles ◽  
Jeanette McBride
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Canopy Structure ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Forest Composition ◽  
Presettlement Vegetation ◽  
Composition And Structure ◽  
Exotic Pests

Urban forests provide important ecosystem services, but species composition and canopy structure influence provisioning of these services and long-term stability of the urban canopy. Two landscape-scale data sets (presettlement land surveys and an urban tree census) were used to explore relationships among modern land use, presettlement vegetation, and urban forest canopy structure, size structure, and composition in the Chicago, Illinois, U.S., metropolitan region. Presettlement vegetation and modern land use combined to influence urban forest composition and structure. Modern forested areas with high native species dominance, canopy cover, and structural complexity were associated with forest (rather than prairie) vegetation in the presettlement landscape. Oaks (Quercus spp.), which dominated presettlement forests and provide high ecosystem service value because of their large stature and wildlife value, were strongly associated with presettlement forest areas and modern natural areas. The Chicago region is in a transitional state where composition and structure of larger size classes is heavily tied to pre-urban vegetation. In the future, this landscape is likely to experience a shift in dominance from oaks to smaller-statured, shorter-lived non-native and opportunistic species. This shift, along with climatic change and introduction of exotic pests, may result in an urban forest with reduced potential to provide important ecosystem services.

scholarly journals Nilai Manfaat Ekonomi Hutan Kota Universitas Hasanuddin Makassar

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 239
Author(s):  
Muthmainnah Zainuddin ◽  
Muhammad Tahnur
Keyword(s):  
Water Absorption ◽  
Economic Benefit ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Research Result ◽  
Market Price ◽  
Maintenance Cost ◽  
Air Conditioner ◽  
Value Of Water ◽  
Economic Value Of Water

This research aims to (1) identify the current indirect economic benefit resources of Hasanuddin University’s urban forest (2) find out the indirect economic benefit value of Hasanuddin University’s urban forest. This research has been implemented for 6 months during March to August 2018.  The economic benefit value consists of wood value, coolness value and water absorption value.  Method used to obtain the wood value is calculated based on market price approach, the coolness value of the urban forest is based on the market value of substitute goods while the water absorption value is calculated based on the trees’ ability in absorbing water. The research result shows that the urban forest of Hasanuddin University has a very large and high benefit value.  Some indirect economic benefit values contained in the  urban forest are of the wood value, coolness benefit value and water absorption benefit value. The wood value of Hasanuddin University’s urban forest is Rp. 46.586.400/year The coolness economic value is calculated from the total cost of procuring Air Conditioner (AC) and the maintenance cost. The coolness value of Hasanuddin University’s urban forest is Rp. 3.6828.000.000.  The economic value of water absorption of Hasanuddin University’s urban forest is calculated based on the trees’ ability to hold water. The economic value of water absorption of Hasanuddin University’s urban forest is Rp. 384.189,12/days so that the water absorption  of Hasanuddin University’s urban forest is  Rp. 140.229.028,8/year.  

scholarly journals Gainesville's Urban Forest Canopy Cover

EDIS ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2009 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Escobedo ◽  
Jennifer A. Seitz ◽  
Wayne Zipperer
Keyword(s):  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Ground Surface ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Tree Cover ◽  
Urban Tree ◽  
Changes Over Time ◽  
Urban Tree Cover ◽  
Tree Composition ◽  
Over Time

FOR-215, a 3-page illustrated fact sheet by Francisco Escobedo, Jennifer A. Seitz, and Wayne Zipperer, examines how tree cover changes over time, how tree composition and location influence urban forest canopy and leaf area, and how tree and ground surface covers vary across Gainesville. Includes references. Published by the UF School of Forest Resources and Conservation, March 2009.   FOR 215/FR277: Gainesville Florida's Urban Tree Cover (ufl.edu)  

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