Urban Forestry Toward an Ecosystem Services Research Agenda: A Workshop Summary (2013) / Chapter Skim
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2 URBAN FORESTRY: SERVICES, TOOLS, AND MANAGEMENT
2 URBAN FORESTRY: SERVICES, TOOLS, AND MANAGEMENT
Pages 7-36
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A significant challenge in urban forestry is fostering a sense of environmental stewardship. How do you engage all the needed stakeholders and provide them with useful tools and information?
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explore the role of trees within the greater urban ecosystem and the ecosystem services they provide, and (2) review current understanding of the ecosystem services provided by urban forests, and identify research needs.
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However, our ecological knowledge of these systems is lacking because ecologists in North America have only relatively recently begun to study them in a comprehensive way. Because of the novelty of urban ecosystems, urban landscapes represent a "new heterogeneity" for ecologists to quantify and understand.
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Services and Regional Tradeoffs: Resolving the Desert Forest Paradox Diane Pataki, University of Utah Urban forests in desert areas are an extreme example of novel ecosystems. Salt Lake City, Utah, for example, is naturally a shrubland, yet the city has an extensive urban tree canopy (Figure 2.2.)
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A ons Although there e are some data constrain in quantify d nts ying urban meetabolism, this concept is cr s ritical for quantifyin the role of urban forests in the function ng u i ning of the cit as a whole.
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Thes tools can al so be utilized by people fro different se d om disciplines. This appproach extend the tools an vision for u ds nd urban forests b beyond the ecosys stem services concept, to ca c apture the larg role of urb forests in the functionin of ger ban ng cities.
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That is, if cities can only afford to allocate limited space to green infrastructure, each unit of green needs to be hyperefficient if we intend to achieve meaningful reductions in pollution, runoff and temperature; green space needs to be deliberately designed to enhance its benefits. In conclusion, we should move beyond the simple notion that "more green is better." Designing hyperfunctional green infrastructure requires an adaptive management approach involving experiments, modeling, ground truthing, and comparative studies in order to promulgate useful policy and effective practices.
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In the 1970s there was formal federal Forest Service assistance for urban tree planting. Eventually Tree City USA was initiated by the National Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the U.S.
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Trees have become e emblematic o urban of ecosystem services in cities across th country, and million tree planting prog m c he e grams have become popular. p But what is sustaina w able for whom and where?
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This session was a continuation of the previous session and focused on the biophysical services of trees with respect to air, water, climate, wildlife, and health. Panelists were asked to discuss the current state of the science in their respective disciplines on the biophysical services provided by urban forests.
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. Green infrastructure can be desig n e gned to perform better at st tormwater maanagement tha an pre-develo opment ecosy ystems.
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There are several key questions related to the effects that urban characteristics and urban forests have on meteorology and air quality. For example, do we have the data and models that can adequately capture and assess these effects?
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Accurate specification and modeling of vegetation is crucial for accurate simulation of the surface fluxes. Vegetation data and land surface modeling are especially important for assessing the impacts of urban forests.
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c veral studies a aimed at using urban trees t help mitiga the g to ate UHI in New York. In one study, a LANDSAT m at 60m re n n map esolution was used to find hotspo and to asse street-tree cooling benef ots ess fits.
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The Role of Urban Forests in Biodiversity Restoration Doug Tallamy, University of Delaware The planet is losing biodiversity. This is important because the relation between the number of species and ecosystem function is linear (MacArthur, 1955; Maestre et al., 2012; Naeem et al., 2012; Reich et al., 2012)
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Urban Greening: Health Benefits and Caveats of the Urban Forest Shubhayu Saha, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention A wide array of studies have identified a range of health benefits directly and indirectly associated with urban forests. Some of the potential long-term beneficial health outcomes include physical activity, improved cardiovascular health, and better quality of life.
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In conclusion, urban forests have a multitude of health benefits, but there are significant challenges. Consideration should be given to health guidelines in any urban tree-planting project.
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"Cultural ecosystem services" is an important consideration within the field of urban forestry. Some regulatory agencies may be prohibited from examining benefits of urban forests if these benefits fall outside their mission.
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C al an t Census data ar being re incorporat into the model, but there is a desire to develop eq ted m t quations that link urban tree e structure to social bene t efits. Current estimates focus on who is u nderserved in terms of tree e n e cover and on populatio at higher risk to air pollu ons r ution and hea stress.
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Various studies on noise exist, but i-Tree does not currently address this topic. Researchers are currently investigating conversion factors for urban tree biomass to products and fuel production.
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Quantifying an modeling tr cover at th scale of the land owners Q nd ree he e ship parcels could help motivate res p sidents to maintain or incre ease their tree canopy. It is difficu to map tree in urban are Shadows from tall buil ult es eas.
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The Role of Urban Forestry in Public Health Laura Jackson, EPA EPA recently developed EnviroAtlas, a mapping application that allows users to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services nationally and in specific communities. The beta release of EnviroAtlas is planned for late Spring of 2013, with the first public version available in Fall of 2013.
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. Mapped metrics calculated for EnviroAtlas by the Forest Service include ambient air pollutants removed, water runoff reduction and filtration, ambient temperature reduction, carbon storage and dollar valuation, and health benefits of urban air filtration.
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Allen, Center for Chesapeake Communities Given that urban forests are increasingly being viewed as critical to sustaining environmental quality and human well-being, there has been significant growth in the number of urban areas across the United States declaring ambitious goals for expanding their tree canopy. Some cities are going one step further and are attempting to include large-scale tree planting as an official measure in air and water quality control plans.
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Cities like the idea of including urban forests in SIPs, but EPA needs to find ways to use these nontraditional programs in the SIP. It would be valuable to have this additional air pollution mitigation measure in the tool box since numerous cities have already undertaken many of the reasonable measures that are available.
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What happens when private landowners ask to be paid for the benefits they are providing? Any particular organization usually has insufficient funds to achieve and maintain a significant urban tree canopy goal.
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In conclusion, the next major phase in urban forestry will be a shift in focus from streettree planting to sustainability in a broader sense by including goals that are social, economic, and environmental. Management Challenges and Opportunities: City of Trees Mark Buscaino, Casey Trees A recent tree canopy study by Nowak and Greenfeld (2012)
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A nation registry sh ould be publi nal ished of urban area canopy and n y impervvious surface levels, as well as progress ttoward meetin urban cano goals. A ng opy national tree report card based on easily verifia n able metrics is another opti for reporti s ion ing.
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Giving high priority to addressing research needs in a regulatory context could help pave the way for cities to receive regulatory credit for expansion of their urban forests. CLOSING REMARKS In closing the plenary session, Mr.
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