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 Urban Forest Ecosystem Services Vary with Land Use and Species: A Case Study of Kyoto City

Forests ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Jiefeng Kang ◽  
Satoshi Hirabayashi ◽  
Shozo Shibata
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Urban Ecosystem ◽  
Tree Level ◽  
Urban Ecosystem Services ◽  
Single Tree ◽  
Runoff Reduction ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Kyoto City

The demand for urban ecosystem services increases with the rapid growth of the urban population. The urban forest is a crucial ecosystem services provider in cities. To achieve a better estimation of urban ecosystem services, an understanding of the link between heterogeneity and ecosystem services within cities is needed. Other than street trees and forest remnants, the contribution of dispersed green spaces should also be considered. In this study, a ground-based sample quadrat investigation of trees across a sequence of land types in Kyoto City was applied. The ecosystem services and monetary values of trees were further calculated using a customized i-Tree Eco tool. The ecosystem services calculated include carbon storage and sequestration, air pollutants removal, and runoff reduction. Ecosystem services of different land use classes were compared at both quadrat and single-tree levels. We found no significant difference across land use for all the ecosystem services at the quadrat level. However, ecosystem services were different across land use at the single-tree level. We performed a species-specific analysis and found that the pattern of ecosystem services at the single-tree level across land use varies with both the service tested and species. Our study suggests that the heterogeneity within a city should be considered when estimating urban ecosystem services. The results also provide insight into the urban green space management of Kyoto City.

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 Urban Trees and Human Health: A Scoping Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (12) ◽  
pp. 4371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen L. Wolf ◽  
Sharon T. Lam ◽  
Jennifer K. McKeen ◽  
Gregory R.A. Richardson ◽  
Matilda van den Bosch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Weight Status ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Urban Forestry ◽  
Urban Trees ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Future Research

The urban forest is a green infrastructure system that delivers multiple environmental, economic, social and health services, and functions in cities. Environmental benefits of urban trees are well understood, but no review to date has examined how urban trees affect human health. This review provides a comprehensive summary of existing literature on the health impacts of urban trees that can inform future research, policy, and nature-based public health interventions. A systematic search used keywords representing human health, environmental health, and urban forestry. Following screening and appraisal of several thousand articles, 201 studies were conceptually sorted into a three-part framework. Reducing Harm, representing 41% of studies, includes topics such as air pollution, ultraviolet radiation, heat exposure, and pollen. Restoring Capacities, at 31%, includes attention restoration, mental health, stress reduction, and clinical outcomes. Building Capacities, at 28%, includes topics such as birth outcomes, active living, and weight status. The studies that were reviewed show substantial heterogeneity in purpose and method yet indicate important health outcomes associated with people’s exposure to trees. This review will help inform future research and practice, and demonstrates why urban forest planning and management should strategically promote trees as a social determinant of public health.

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.

Container gardens: Possibilities and challenges for environmental and social benefits in cities

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Ayako Nagase ◽  
◽  
Jeremy Lundholm ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Urban Greening ◽  
Education Material ◽  
Artificial Ecosystems ◽  
Direct And Indirect Benefits ◽  
Further Development

Container gardens are used in cities around the world where access to soil at ground level is limited. They represent artificial ecosystems but often provide the only vegetation in some highly urbanized locations, and have been used in vertical and horizontal forms of living architecture. Although there are many container gardens in urban areas, container gardening as a component of more broadly considered green infrastructure seems to be unappreciated. The aim of this review is to elucidate potential ecosystem services provided by container gardening. The ultimate goal of this review is to recognize the value of container gardens in order to promote them as part of green infrastructure in urban areas. The ecosystem services which container gardens provide were sorted into the following categories (1) Provisioning (food production and security); (2) Regulating (stormwater management, improvement of air quality, energy savings and thermal comfort); (3) Habitat/Supporting (plant biodiversity and creation of animal habitats); (4) Cultural (aesthetic and improvement of visible green ratio, communication and environmental education, material reuse). Container gardens deserve serious attention as a form of urban greening that can provide many direct and indirect benefits to people living in cities. Moreover, it is important for citizens, local authorities and academics to be aware of the ecosystem services associated with container gardening to promote further development of its potential.

The Effects of Residential Street Tree Spacing and Crown Interactions on Crown Dimensions and Canopy Cover

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 183-195
Author(s):  
Bimal Aryal ◽  
James Steenberg ◽  
Peter Duinker
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Interaction Effects ◽  
Projection Area ◽  
Street Trees ◽  
Street Tree ◽  
Crown Shape ◽  
Crown Projection Area ◽  
Crown Dimensions

Urban trees provide people with a range of ecosystem services. Trees planted along streets have been a large focus of urban forest research and practice, and municipalities invest significant resources in their survival. However, the optimal spacing of street trees is not addressed in the scientific literature, and existing municipal street tree spacing standards are highly variable and poorly enforced. In this study, we examine variability in crown shape and size for street trees to test for possible interaction effects at closer spacings. We measured variability in crown diameters both parallel and perpendicular to street tree rows to test whether changes in crown dimensions can be explained by interaction effects with neighbouring trees, and whether crown interactions lead to a reduction in total crown projection area (i.e., canopy cover). We measured the crown dimensions and diameter at breast height of 1,338 street trees in Halifax, Canada. We used two-way analysis of variance to test whether crown shape and crown projection area were affected by crown interactions and spacing. We found that the effect of narrower spacing and interactions (i.e., crowns touching/overlapping) among trees translated to crowns extending away from the direction of interaction. We also found that these changing crown dimensions were associated with increases in canopy cover. Urban forest ecosystems are a vital resource for the increasingly urban population. There is a need for empirical research on spacing standards and practices that investigate their influence on the supply of ecosystem services, such as stormwater retention, air pollution removal, and cooling.

scholarly journals Importance, Utilization and Health of Urban Forests: A Review

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-16
Author(s):  
Alexandra D. SOLOMOU ◽  
Eleni T. TOPALIDOU ◽  
Rafaelia GERMANI ◽  
Apostolia ARGIRI ◽  
George KARETSOS
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Urban Forests ◽  
Visual Image ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Academic Resources

Urbanization and development of cities are rapidly increasing across the world and urban forests constitute important tools that maintain the basic environmental and ecological functions of cities on which plant, animal and human existence depend. This paper presents a literature review on importance, utilization and health of urban forests that are important in providing ecosystem services for the sustainability of cities. Analysis of the literature from the main academic resources databases indicates that urban forest is a dynamic system which includes trees, shrubs, green space, soil and water that supports them. Urban forests provide many functions, services and benefits which are needed for the sustainable development of urban areas. In addition, health and appearance of trees’ composition are the most important factors in determining a city’s visual image and quality of life. Thus, urban forests are an important component of an ecosystem in any community development. Furthermore, management of urban forests can increase their potentials and therefore their functions, services and benefits. Green infrastructure and ecosystem services are the most efficient tools that cities can utilise to remain healthy, robust and liveable. Hence, the planners, architects, engineers, foresters, agriculturists and all those involved in decision making should be utilized the present literature review and incorporate the concept of urban forest in their  plans and programs so as to achieve the sustainability of cities.

scholarly journals CARACTERÍSTICAS FITOSSOCIOLÓGICAS DA ARBORIZAÇÃO VIÁRIA DE BONITO-MS

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Kendra Zamproni ◽  
Daniela Biondi ◽  
Tamara Ribeiro Botelho de Carvalho Maria ◽  
Rogério Bobrowski
Keyword(s):  
Forest Inventory ◽  
Traditional Method ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Urban Trees ◽  
Absolute Frequency ◽  
Street Trees ◽  
Importance Value ◽  
Crown Area ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Species Performance

Diagnosis through the street trees’ assessment is fundamental to the planning and maintenance of this asset, in order to maximize the benefits provided by the urban trees. Phytosociological studies allow an improvement of the data analysis obtained from the inventory, however they are still not used often in research on this subject. Within this context, the objective of this study was to analyze the phytosociological characteristics of the street trees of Bonito-MS, from the data obtained through a previous urban forest inventory. For this, the following factors were analyzed: frequency, density, dominance (expressed by the crown area in replace of the DBH) and importance value, calculated by the traditional method and by the Species Performance Index (IPE). Within the results, it is possible to verify that the importance value highlighted species which presented larger crown area even to the detriment of those that presented higher absolute frequency. The species with the highest frequency, density and dominance values was Licania tomentosa, and, despite the homogeneity of its planting in the municipality, this species presented high IPE value. The use of these phytosociological parameters allows a better evaluation of the adaptation and performance of the species in the municipality and assists in the decision-making of new plantings.

scholarly journals Benefits of urban greenery: a case study for Buenos Aires city

Heringeriana ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-32
Author(s):  
Ana Faggi ◽  
Fernando Seoane ◽  
Patricia Perelman
Keyword(s):  
Energy Savings ◽  
Buenos Aires ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Urban Trees ◽  
Street Trees ◽  
City Environment ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Urban Greenery ◽  
Urban Planning And Management

Although in Buenos Aires urban trees are very much appreciated and it is widely acknowledged that they perform an important function in the city environment, there are no empirical studies about their role as both carbon di oxide sinks and householdenergy consumption savers. In the present paper we present the results of calculating both the gross and net carbon sequestration, and the heating and cooling emission savings made through: tree shade, evapotranspiration and wind shielding for a sample of 15,856 street trees: The total net amount of C02 emissions from energy generation projected to be saved by the sampled trees in the next 40 years is estimated at 14,754 tonnes, and it will account for 25.8% of the total amount of C02 sequestered. The maximum net co2 savings will be achieved in 16 to 20 years (2018- 2022), followed by a decrease due to the increase of co2 releases by biomass decay and tree maintenance. The extrapolation of our results to the whole city shows that street trees can store half of the co2 emisssions produced by municipal solid waste. For Buenos Aires, a city with high rates of C02 storage per tree, energy savings and C02 sequestration are important features to be considered in urban planning and management.

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