Benefits Of Urban Trees

This multidisciplinary book covers all aspects of planning, designing, establishing and managing forests and trees and forests in and near urban areas, with chapters by experts in forestry, horticulture, landscape ecology, landscape architecture and even plant pathology. Beginning with historical and conceptual basics, the coverage includes policy, design, implementation and management of forestry for urban populations.

This multidisciplinary book covers all aspects of planning, designing, establishing and managing forests and trees and forests in and near urban areas, with chapters by experts in forestry, horticulture, landscape ecology, landscape architecture and even plant pathology. Beginning with historical and conceptual basics, the coverage includes policy, design, implementation and management of forestry for urban populations.

There is a growing evidence base that documents the social, environmental and economic benefits that urban trees can deliver. Trees are, however, under threat today as never before due to competition for space imposed by development, other hard infrastructures, increased pressure on the availability of financial provision from local authorities and a highly cautious approach to risk management in a modern litigious society. It is, therefore, incumbent upon all of us in construction and urban design disciplines to pursue a set of goals that not only preserve existing trees where we can, but also ensure that new plantings are appropriately specified and detailed to enable their successful establishment and growth to productive maturity. Aimed at developers, urban planners, urban designers, landscape architects and arboriculturists, this book takes a candid look at the benefits that trees provide alongside the threats that are eliminating them from our towns and cities. It takes a simple, applied approach that explores a combination of science and practical experience to help ensure a pragmatic and reasoned approach to decision-making in terms of tree selection, specification, placement and establishment. In this way, trees can successfully be incorporated within our urban landscapes, so that we can continue to reap the benefits they provide.

Numerous studies indicate an accelerated growth of forest trees, induced by ongoing climate change. Similar trends were recently found for urban trees in major cities worldwide. Studies frequently report about substantial effects of climate change and the urban heat island effect (UHI) on plant growth. The combined effects of increasing temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and extended growing season lengths, in addition to increasing nitrogen deposition and higher CO2 concentrations, can increase but also reduce plant growth. Closely related to this, the multiple functions and services provided by urban trees may be modified. Urban trees generate numerous ecosystem services, including carbon storage, mitigation of the heat island effect, reduction of rainwater runoff, pollutant filtering, recreation effects, shading, and cooling. The quantity of the ecosystem services is often closely associated with the species, structure, age, and size of the tree as well as with a tree's vitality. Therefore, greening cities, and particularly planting trees, seems to be an effective option to mitigate climate change and the UHI. The focus of this Special Issue is to underline the importance of trees as part of the urban green areas for major cities in all climate zones. Empirical as well as modeling studies of urban tree growth and their services and disservices in cities worldwide are included. Articles about the dynamics, structures, and functions of urban trees as well as the influence of climate and climate change on urban tree growth, urban species composition, carbon storage, and biodiversity are also discussed.

Urban tree management is the key basis for greener cities of the future. It is a practical discipline which includes tree selection, planting, care and protection and the overall management of trees as a collective resource. Urban Tree Management aims to raise awareness for the positive impacts and benefits of city trees and for their importance to city dwellers. It describes their advantages and details their effects on quality of urban life and well-being – aspects that are increasingly important in these times of progressing urbanisation. With this book you will learn: fundamentals, methods and tools of urban tree management state of the art in the fields of urban forestry and tree biology positive effects and uses of urban trees features, requirements and selection criteria for urban trees conditions and problems of urban trees governance and management aspects environmental education programs. Edited by the leading expert Dr Andreas Roloff, Urban Tree Management is an excellent resource for plant scientists, horticulturists, dendrologists, arborists and arboriculturists, forestry scientists, city planners, parks department specialists and landscape architects. It will be an essential addition to all students and libraries where such subjects are taught.

This book focuses on urban "green infrastructure" – the interconnected web of vegetated spaces like street trees, parks and peri-urban forests that provide essential ecosystem services in cities. The green infrastructure approach embodies the idea that these services, such as storm-water runoff control, pollutant filtration and amenities for outdoor recreation, are just as vital for a modern city as those provided by any other type of infrastructure. Ensuring that these ecosystem services are indeed delivered in an equitable and sustainable way requires knowledge of the physical attributes of trees and urban green spaces, tools for coping with the complex social and cultural dynamics, and an understanding of how these factors can be integrated in better governance practices. By conveying the findings and recommendations of COST Action FP1204 GreenInUrbs, this volume summarizes the collaborative efforts of researchers and practitioners from across Europe to address these challenges.