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

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.

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A Case Study Balancing Predetermined Targets and Real-World Constraints to Guide Optimum Urban Tree Canopy Cover for Perth, Western Australia

Forests ◽

10.3390/f11111128 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (11) ◽

pp. 1128

Author(s):

Jackie Parker ◽

Greg D. Simpson

Keyword(s):

Western Australia ◽

Canopy Cover ◽

Tree Canopy ◽

Urban Trees ◽

Conceptual Tool ◽

Urban Tree ◽

Tree Canopy Cover ◽

Urban Tree Canopy ◽

Social Environmental

Trees in urban settings are becoming increasingly important as mediators to emerging challenges that transect social, environmental, and economic factors. Trees provide shade; absorb and store atmospheric carbon and other pollutants; reduce local temperature fluctuations; provide essential inner-city fauna habitat; assist in reducing over-land stormwater flow; provide amenity; and provide many more social, environmental, and economic benefits. To secure these benefits, tree canopy cover targets are commonly employed by land managers; however, such targets are rarely quantified against the characteristics and limitations of individual urban centers. Through the generation and interrogation of qualitative and quantitative data, this case study of Perth, Western Australia presents a new conceptual tool that integrates eleven factors found to influence the capacity and opportunity for a city to support urban tree canopy cover. This tool is designed to capture and causally weigh urban tree canopy considerations based on individual city characteristics, collective values, and identifiable constraints. The output of the tool provides an “optimum” tree canopy cover result (as a percentage of the urban fabric) to better inform canopy cover targets and recommendations for urban tree strategic planning and management. This tool is valuable for urban land managers, city planners, urban designers, and communities in effective planning, management, valuation, and investment regarding urban trees as a sub-set of urban green infrastructure.

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Correction: Examining the distributional equity of urban tree canopy cover and ecosystem services across United States cities

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0230398 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

pp. e0230398

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Canopy Cover ◽

Tree Canopy ◽

Urban Tree ◽

Tree Canopy Cover ◽

Urban Tree Canopy

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Examining the distributional equity of urban tree canopy cover and ecosystem services across United States cities

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0228499 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. e0228499 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Christopher B. Riley ◽

Mary M. Gardiner

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Canopy Cover ◽

Tree Canopy ◽

Urban Tree ◽

Tree Canopy Cover ◽

Urban Tree Canopy

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A Comparison of Three Methods for Measuring Local Urban Tree Canopy Cover

Arboriculture & Urban Forestry ◽

10.48044/jauf.2013.009 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 39 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Kristen King ◽

Dexter Locke

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Large Scale ◽

New Technologies ◽

Urban Forest ◽

Canopy Cover ◽

Tree Canopy ◽

Urban Tree ◽

Tree Canopy Cover ◽

Urban Tree Canopy

Measurements of urban tree canopy cover are crucial for managing urban forests and required for the quantification of the benefits provided by trees. These types of data are increasingly used to secure funding and justify large-scale planting programs in urban areas. Comparisons of tree canopy measurement methods have been conducted before, but a rapidly evolving set of new technologies and applications may leave urban foresters wondering, “Which method is most appropriate for my circumstances?” This analysis compares two well-established measures of local tree canopy and building cover with a third, relatively untested technique. Field-based visual estimations (using the USDA Forest Service’s i-Tree protocols), summaries of highresolution land cover data using geographic information systems (GIS), and an analysis of skyward-oriented hemispherical photographs at 215 roadside sites across the five diverse counties of New York City, New York, U.S., are the methods evaluated herein. The study authors found no statistically significant differences between the methods when comparing tree canopy; however, the hemispherical camera had a tendency to overestimate building coverage. It is concluded that hemispheric photo techniques are understudied in urban areas, and that the i-Tree and GIS-based approaches are complementary and reinforcing tools indispensable for both the urban forest management and research communities.

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Zoning, land use, and urban tree canopy cover: The importance of scale

Urban Forestry & Urban Greening ◽

10.1016/j.ufug.2012.12.005 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 191-199 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Sarah K. Mincey ◽

Mikaela Schmitt-Harsh ◽

Richard Thurau

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Canopy Cover ◽

Tree Canopy ◽

Urban Tree ◽

Tree Canopy Cover ◽

Urban Tree Canopy

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Do Trees in Halifax Grow on Money?: A Comparison of Urban Tree Canopy Cover and Median Household Income in North End and South End Halifax

Dalhousie Journal of Interdisciplinary Management ◽

10.5931/djim.v14i0.7875 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 14 ◽

Author(s):

Kendra Marshman

Keyword(s):

Population Density ◽

Household Income ◽

Urban Forest ◽

Canopy Cover ◽

Tree Canopy ◽

Median Household Income ◽

Tree Canopy Cover ◽

Urban Tree Canopy ◽

Statistics Canada ◽

North End

Trees in the city provide numerous ecological, health, and social benefits to urban residents. Studies from large North American cities have confirmed a spatial pattern that higher urban forest tree canopy positively correlates with higher levels of affluence. The just distribution of trees will become increasingly important for urban planners and foresters as there is a national trend towards living in cities. This research report investigates the equity of distribution of urban tree canopy cover in two neighbourhoods on the peninsula of Halifax, Nova Scotia. High spatial resolution land cover data from 2007 and 2006 Statistics Canada census data was used to create maps and tables to answer the research question. The socio-economic indicators of median household income and population density are represented based on census tract dissemination areas from the 2006 Statistics Canada long survey. Preliminary results indicate lower median household income and higher population density in the chosen study area of North End Halifax compared to higher median household income and lower population density in the chosen study area of South End Halifax. Tree canopy cover density is slightly lower in North End Halifax (5.3%) than in South End Halifax (7.6%). These preliminary results coincide with findings of other researchers that higher household income and lower population density at the neighbourhood level may result in increased urban forest canopy. However, further research and more reliant tree canopy cover data is needed to determine the accuracy of these findings.

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