Pruning intensity of street trees and associated effects on ecosystem services

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Su-Ting Cheng ◽  
Shuo Wei
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Tree Height ◽  
City Government ◽  
Street Trees ◽  
Street Tree ◽  
Taipei City ◽  
Pollution Removal ◽  
Pruning Intensity

<p>Urban street trees provide multiple ecosystem services to city residents. In the Taipei city of Taiwan, street tree pruning is periodically applied due to disastrous prevention of typhoons or storms. To understand how pruning intensity affects the value of ecosystem services, we evaluated the changes of ecosystem services provided by a total of 87,014 street trees in Taipei in terms of pollution removal, carbon storage, gross carbon sequestration, and runoff avoidance. The current status of each ecosystem service was calculated using i-Tree Eco developed by US Forest Service based on the street tree inventory conducted by Parks and Street Lights Office, Taipei City Government during 2015 to 2017. Inventory information included tree species, diameter at breast height (DBH), tree height, and their locations. To simulate pruning intensity from 10% to 100%, we adjusted the crown missing rate from the current canopy cover estimated by DBH and tree height and quantified their associated effects on the ecosystem services. Then, for comparison purposes, each ecosystem service was transformed into monetary values using US market value of water, carbon, air pollution removal, and electricity. Our analysis showed that the Taipei street trees currently hold a relatively stable age structure with lower risk of disease or pest outbreak. These trees were estimated to deliver ecosystem services of equivalent value of 5.6 million USD, to which 4.97 million USD was contributed by carbon storage. Based on the pruning intensity simulation, we suggest a 20% or lower pruning intensity considering street trees’ impairment and physiology, to maximize the ecosystem service values. We also recommend landscape managers to monitor and assess the growth and health of the street trees to promote sustainable development in the Taipei city.</p>

scholarly journals The Variation of Air Purification Benefit Provided by Street Tree Assemblages in Shenyang, China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Yao ◽  
Miao Liu ◽  
Nina Chen ◽  
Wei Chen ◽  
Xiaobo Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Urban Form ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Road Construction ◽  
Vegetation Management ◽  
Air Purification ◽  
Street Trees ◽  
Street Tree ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Tree Assemblages

Abstract Street tree assemblages are a widespread natural component in cities and provide a range of ecosystem services. The spatial distribution of street tree assemblages within cities, however, is not uniform. We assessed the air purification benefits provided by street trees in Shenyang, China, to examine how urban form, urban geography and drivers of vegetation management affect this ecosystem service. The i-Tree Street Model was utilized to evaluate air purification benefits provided by street trees. We analyzed the results using two indices, with values expressed in US dollars (USD, $): the per kilometer benefit (PKB) and average tree benefit (ATB). Neither index displayed a consistent trend across the human population density gradient or along the urban-suburban continuum. The district with the highest PKB and ATB is neither the oldest nor the newest one to develop, but rather the one that began to develop around 2002. We conclude that public policy is a main driver of vegetation management, especially for street trees, because street tree abundance is closely related to road construction, which, in turn, is closely tied to economic development in a region. We also discovered no significant difference in the benefit of street tree assemblages along the urban-suburban continuum. That's probably because all areas within the different beltways contain mature street trees, the time-lag effect for growth is inconsequential. We recommend that the dynamic variations of street tree assemblages over a certain time span be taken into consideration when examining the effects of urban sprawl on ecosystem services provided by street tree assemblages.

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 Evaluation of Sampling Protocol for i-Tree Eco: A Case Study in Predicting Ecosystem Services at Auburn University

2013 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Martin ◽  
Arthur Chappelka ◽  
Greg Somers ◽  
Edward Loewenstein ◽  
Gary Keever
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Accurate Estimate ◽  
Sampling Protocol ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Auburn University ◽  
Pollution Removal

Auburn University (Auburn, Alabama, U.S.) was used as a site for a case study evaluating the standard plot sampling protocol for i-Tree Eco. A 100% tree inventory of the managed areas of campus was conducted in 2009–2010 and provided a complete data set for the evaluation. Air pollution removal, carbon storage, and carbon sequestration were the ecosystem services examined. Total tree population was also utilized for this assessment to provide a comparison to i-Tree Eco protocol. To achieve an estimate with a ±10% allowable error of the total campus value, 622 plots (0.04 ha each) with at least one tree present would need to be inventoried for air pollution removal, 870 plots for carbon storage, 483 plots for carbon sequestration, and 258 plots for number of trees, as opposed to the standard i-Tree Eco protocol of 200 plots. This study provides a first step in evaluating i-Tree Eco sampling protocol; however, efforts testing these results at sites throughout the southern United States are needed to provide the most accurate estimate of plot numbers necessary for predicting ecosystem services of urban forests.

Assessing ecosystem services in Neotropical dry forests: a systematic review

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
SOFIA CALVO-RODRIGUEZ ◽  
ARTURO G. SANCHEZ-AZOFEIFA ◽  
SANDRA M. DURAN ◽  
MARIO M. ESPÍRITO-SANTO
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Dry Forests ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Neotropical Dry Forests

SUMMARYThere is an increasing consensus on the importance of understanding ecosystem service (ES) provision in order to facilitate decision making and the sustainable management of Neotropical dry forests (NTDFs), yet research on the ESs provided by NTDFs is limited. We identified the main existing gaps and trends in the quantification of provisioning, regulating and supporting ESs in NTDFs. Systematic web-based searches showed that research has been increasing in recent decades in NTDFs, supporting greater ES knowledge and assessment. Carbon storage and biodiversity are the main subjects under study, while ESs relating to water and soil lack investigation. The most common approaches for assessing ES were fauna and plant inventories, carbon dynamics and ecological processes.

scholarly journals Economic value of trees in the estate of the Harewood House stately home in the United Kingdom

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5411
Author(s):  
Julie Peacock ◽  
Joey Ting ◽  
Karen L. Bacon
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Light Exposure ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Future Planning ◽  
Breast Height ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Pollution Removal ◽  
Untapped Resource

The estates of stately homes or manor houses are an untapped resource for assessing the ecosystem services provided by trees. Many of these estates have large collections of trees with clear value in terms of carbon storage, runoff prevention, and pollution removal along with additional benefits to biodiversity and human health. The estate of Harewood House in North Yorkshire represents an ideal example of such a stately home with a mixture of parkland and more formally planted gardens. The trees in each type of garden were analysed for height, diameter at breast height and light exposure. The data were then processed in iTrees software to generate economic benefits for each tree in both gardens. The analysis found that the larger North Front parkland garden had greater total benefits but the more densely planted formal West Garden had the greater per hectare value. In total, the trees on Harewood House estate are estimated to provide approximately £29 million in ecosystem service benefits. This study is the first to analyse the trees of stately homes for economic benefits and highlights that the trees are a valuable commodity for the estates. This should be considered in future planning and management of such estates.

scholarly journals Understanding the Ecosystem Services of Urban Forests: Implications for Climate Change Mitigtation in the case of Adama City of Oromiya Region Sate, Ethiopia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hingabu Hordofa Koricho ◽  
Ararsa Derese Seboka ◽  
Fekadu Fufa ◽  
Tikabo Gebreyesus ◽  
Shaoxian Song
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Eucalyptus Globulus ◽  
Carica Papaya ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Urban Forests ◽  
Urban Trees ◽  
Melia Azedarach ◽  
Pollution Removal ◽  
The City

Abstract Background this study was conducted to explore the ecosystem services of urban forests in Adama city, central Ethiopia. Attempts were made to quantify the carbon storage and sequestration, air pollution removal and hydrological benefits of urban trees. The urban forest stracture and composition of the city was surveyed and analyzed. The i-Tree Eco Model was employed to analyze the ecosystem services based on the current urban forests structure of the city. Results the result revealed that the urban trees of the Adama city stored a total of 116,000 tons of carbon. The tree species identified with higher CO2 sequestration per year were Melia azedarach (15%), Eucalyptusglobulus (8%, Carica papaya(7%), and Delonix regia (6%). Approximately 22, 12, 10 and 4% of carbon were stored by Eucalyptus globulus, Melia azedarach, Carica papaya and Delonix regia tree species respectively. Moreover, trees and shrubs spps. in the city removed about 188 thousand tons of air pollutants caused by O3, CO, NO2, PM2.5 and SO2 per year. In Adama, 35% of the urban trees’ VOC emissions were from Eucalyptus cinerea and Eucalyptus globulus. The monetary value of Adama urban forest in terms of carbon storage, carbon sequestration, and pollution removal was estimated to 43,781, 3,121 yr− 1 and 320,915,596 USD yr− 1, respectively. Conclusions it was concluded that significant quantiy of CO2 and air pollutnants were found being removed by the exotic tree and shrub species. However, every plant species found in the city does not mean ecologically important due their VOC emitting nature. Thus, proper planning and inventories of urban forests should be put in place by the key stakeholders such as government, urban foresters and city dwellers as urban trees mitigates climate changes and essential to alleviate urban pollution besides the trees add esthetic value to the city.

scholarly journals Ecosystem Services, Physiology, and Biofuels Recalcitrance of Poplars Grown for Landfill Phytoremediation

Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1357
Author(s):  
Ronald S. Zalesny Jr. ◽  
J. Y. Zhu ◽  
William L. Headlee ◽  
Roland Gleisner ◽  
Andrej Pilipović ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Populus Deltoides ◽  
Biomass Productivity ◽  
Tree Height ◽  
Tree Age ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Pollutant Concentrations ◽  
Rotation Age ◽  
Agricultural Site

Long-term poplar phytoremediation data are lacking, especially for ecosystem services throughout rotations. We tested for rotation-age differences in biomass productivity and carbon storage of clones Populus deltoides Bartr. ex Marsh × P. nigra L. ‘DN34′ and P. nigra × P. maximowiczii A. Henry ‘NM6′ grown for landfill phytoremediation in Rhinelander, WI, USA (45.6° N, 89.4° W). We evaluated tree height and diameter, carbon isotope discrimination (Δ), and phytoaccumulation and phytoextraction of carbon, nitrogen, and inorganic pollutants in leaves, boles, and branches. We measured specific gravity and fiber composition, and determined biofuels recalcitrance of the Rhinelander landfill trees versus these genotypes that were grown for biomass production on an agricultural site in Escanaba, MI, USA (45.8° N, 87.2° W). ‘NM6′ exhibited 3.4 times greater biomass productivity and carbon storage than ‘DN34′, yet both of the clones had similar Δ, which differed for tree age rather than genotype. Phytoaccumulation and phytoextraction were clone- and tissue-specific. ‘DN34′ generally had higher pollutant concentrations. Across contaminants, stand-level mean annual uptake was 28 to 657% greater for ‘NM6′, which indicated its phytoremediation superiority. Site-related factors (not genotypic effects) governed bioconversion potential. Rhinelander phytoremediation trees exhibited 15% greater lignin than Escanaba biomass trees, contributing to 46% lower glucose yield for Rhinelander trees.

scholarly journals The Variation of Air Purification Benefit Provided by Street Tree Assemblages in Shenyang, China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Yao ◽  
Wei Chen ◽  
Miao Liu ◽  
Xiaobo Wang ◽  
Nina Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Urban Form ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Vegetation Management ◽  
Air Purification ◽  
Street Trees ◽  
Street Tree ◽  
Lag Effect ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Main Driver

Abstract Background: Street trees assemblage is a widespread natural component in the cities and provides a wide range of ecosystem services to the cities. However, the distribution of street trees assemblage within a city is inequal. In this paper, we took air purification benefit provided by street trees for example to examine how urban form, urban geography and drivers of vegetation management affect the variation of ecosystem services provided by street trees in metropolitan Shenyang, Northeastern China. The i-Tree Street (2018) was utilizing to evaluate air purification benefit provided by street trees.Results: We analyze the results using 2 indices: per kilometer benefit and average tree benefit. The results showed us that (1) both indices didn’t vary along the population gradient. (2) The per kilometer benefit had a decreasing trend along the urban-suburban gradient. (3) The districts which had the highest per kilometer benefit and average tree benefit are neither the old ones nor the newest one, but the districts start to develop from around 2002 and 2003.Conclusions: We infer that the public policy is a main driver of vegetation management, especially for street trees, because street tree is closely related to road/street development which is closely related to economic development of a region. Besides, there could be a time lag effect for ecosystem services provided by trees.

scholarly journals Exploring the Use of Ecosystem Services Conceptual Models to Account for the Benefits of Public Lands: An Example from National Forest Planning in the United States

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 267
Author(s):  
Lydia Olander ◽  
Katie Warnell ◽  
Travis Warziniack ◽  
Zoe Ghali ◽  
Chris Miller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Public Lands ◽  
The United States ◽  
Forest Planning ◽  
National Forest ◽  
Planning Team ◽  
National Forest Planning

A shared understanding of the benefits and tradeoffs to people from alternative land management strategies is critical to successful decision-making for managing public lands and fostering shared stewardship. This study describes an approach for identifying and monitoring the types of resource benefits and tradeoffs considered in National Forest planning in the United States under the 2012 Planning Rule and demonstrates the use of tools for conceptualizing the production of ecosystem services and benefits from alternative land management strategies. Efforts to apply these tools through workshops and engagement exercises provide opportunities to explore and highlight measures, indicators, and data sources for characterizing benefits and tradeoffs in collaborative environments involving interdisciplinary planning teams. Conceptual modeling tools are applied to a case study examining the social and economic benefits of recreation on the Ashley National Forest. The case study illustrates how these types of tools facilitate dialog for planning teams to discuss alternatives and key ecosystem service outcomes, create easy to interpret visuals that map details in plans, and provide a basis for selecting ecosystem service (socio-economic) metrics. These metrics can be used to enhance environmental impact analysis, and help satisfy the goals of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the 2012 Planning Rule, and shared stewardship initiatives. The systematic consideration of ecosystem services outcomes and metrics supported by this approach enhanced dialog between members of the Forest planning team, allowed for a more transparent process in identification of key linkages and outcomes, and identified impacts and outcomes that may not have been apparent to the sociologist who is lacking the resource specific expertise of these participants. As a result, the use of the Ecosystem Service Conceptual Model (ESCM) process may result in reduced time for internal reviews and greater comprehension of anticipated outcomes and impacts of proposed management in the plan revision Environmental Impact Statement amongst the planning team.

scholarly journals Analysis of the Internal Relationship between Ecological Value and Economic Value Based on the Forest Resources in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6795
Author(s):  
Jianxin Geng ◽  
Chengzhi Liang
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Market Value ◽  
Forest Resources ◽  
Atmospheric Environment ◽  
Shanxi Province ◽  
Ecosystem Service Value ◽  
Service Value ◽  
Asset Value

In this study, we applied gross ecosystem product (GEP) theory in a case study to analyze and explain the natural resource asset value and ecosystem service value of forest resources in Jiaokou County, Shanxi Province, Northern China, in 2018. GEP refers to the total value of various final material products and services provided by ecosystems. In this paper, six service functions of a forest system, including water conservation, soil conservation, carbon fixation and oxygen release, forest nutrients, purification of atmospheric environment, and biodiversity, are valued by three calculation methods: the alternative cost method, market value method, and control cost method. The study revealed the following: (1) There is a parallel relationship between the value of natural resource assets and the value of ecosystem services. GEP includes the market value of natural resource assets, but it is mostly the value of ecosystem services. (2) The measurement of the physical quantity of forest ecosystem services depends on parameter data, and the monetary calculation often has no mature pricing basis, which leads to the large scale and uncertainty surrounding the evaluation results of ecosystem services. (3) The ecosystem service value and natural resource asset value have different practical significance, as well as alternate theoretical bases. The value of natural resource assets can be used as the asset valuation basis of economic transactions, which plays a role in macroeconomic management. The value of ecosystem services can be used as the basis of ecological compensation, providing information for the preparation of the balance sheet of natural resources.

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