Submit to Forests Review for Forests Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Growth and Ecosystem Services of Urban Trees

Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Inventory, Modeling and Remote Sensing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2019) | Viewed by 65965

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special issue Growth and Ecosystem Services of Urban Trees book cover image

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Thomas Rötzer

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Forest Growth and Yield Science, School of Life Sciences, TU München Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354 Freising, Germany
Interests: urban forestry; climate change; ecosystem modelling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The studies of Kauppi et al. (2014), Fang et al. (2014), and Pretzsch et al. (2014) indicate an accelerated growth of forest trees, induced by ongoing climate change. Similar trends were recently found for urban trees in major cities worldwide.

Numerous studies can be found that demonstrate the substantial effects of climate change and the urban heat island effect (UHI) on plant growth. The combining effects of increasing temperatures, changed precipitation patterns, and extended growing season lengths in addition with increasing N-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. Those ecosystem services are 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 seem 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 for major cities in all climate zones. We encourage topics on empirical as well as on modelling studies of urban tree growth and their services and disservices in cities worldwide. Submissions on subjects concerning the magnitudes, patterns and the processes of microclimatic regulation through urban trees are welcome. Topics for manuscripts may further include:

Dynamics, structure and functions of urban tree growth,

Influence of climate and climate change on urban tree growth, urban species composition, carbon storage, and biodiversity,

Ways to improve the quality of life, conservation of biodiversity, adaptation and mitigation to climate change in major cities by urban trees

Quantifying urban tree growth, ecosystem services and disservices in major city worldwide.

Dr. Thomas Rötzer
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

urban tree growth
ecosystem services
urban heat island effect
climate change
biodiversity
carbon storage
evapotranspirational cooling
pollutants

Published Papers (10 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

19 pages, 3769 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Growth of Abies sachalinensis Along an Urban Gradient Affected by Environmental Pollution in Sapporo, Japan

by Astrid Moser-Reischl, Thomas Rötzer, Peter Biber, Matthias Ulbricht, Enno Uhl, Laiye Qu, Takayoshi Koike and Hans Pretzsch

Forests 2019, 10(8), 707; https://doi.org/10.3390/f10080707 - 20 Aug 2019

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3976

Abstract

Urban tree growth is often affected by reduced water availability, higher temperatures, small and compacted planting pits, as well as high nutrient and pollution inputs. Despite these hindering growth conditions, recent studies found a surprisingly better growth of urban trees compared to trees at rural sites, and an enhanced growth of trees in recent times. We compared urban versus rural growing Sakhalin fir (Abies sachalinensis (F. Schmidt) Mast.) trees in Sapporo, northern Japan and analyzed the growth differences between growing sites and the effects of environmental pollution (NO₂, NO_X, SO₂ and O_X) on tree growth. Tree growth was assessed by a dendrochronological study across a gradient from urban to rural sites and related to high detailed environmental pollution data with mixed model approaches and regression analyses. A higher growth of urban trees compared to rural trees was found, along with an overall accelerated growth rate of A. sachalinensis trees over time. Moreover, environmental pollution seems to positively affect tree growth, though with the exception of oxides O_X which had strong negative correlations with growth. In conclusion, higher temperatures, changed soil nutrient status, higher risks of water-logging, increased oxide concentrations, as well as higher age negatively affected the growth of rural trees. The future growth of urban A. sachalinensis will provide more insights as to whether the results were induced by environmental pollution and climate or biased on a higher age of rural trees. Nevertheless, the results clearly indicate that environmental pollution, especially in terms of NO₂ and NO_X poses no threat to urban tree growth in Sapporo. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth and Ecosystem Services of Urban Trees)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 2759 KiB

Open AccessArticle

How Do Tilia cordata Greenspire Trees Cope with Drought Stress Regarding Their Biomass Allocation and Ecosystem Services?

by Chi Zhang, Laura Myrtiá Faní Stratopoulos, Hans Pretzsch and Thomas Rötzer

Forests 2019, 10(8), 676; https://doi.org/10.3390/f10080676 - 09 Aug 2019

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4652

Abstract

In the context of climate change, drought is likely to become more frequent and more severe in urban areas. Urban trees are considered to play an important role in fixing carbon, improving air quality, reducing noise and providing other ecosystem services. However, data on the response of urban trees to climate change, particularly to drought, as well as the relationship between their below- and above-ground processes in this context, are still limited, which prevents a comprehensive understanding of the role of urban trees in ameliorating some of the adverse effects of climate change and their ability to cope with it. To investigate whole-plant responses to water shortages, we studied the growth of Tilia cordata Greenspire, a commonly planted urban tree, including development of its roots and stem diameter, leaf parameters and the harvested biomass. Our results showed that this cultivar was susceptible to drought and had reduced biomass in all three compartments: branch (30.7%), stem (16.7%) and coarse roots (45.2%). The decrease in the root:shoot ratio under drought suggested that more carbon was invested in the above-ground biomass. The development of fine roots and the loss of coarse root biomass showed that T. cordata Greenspire prioritised the growth of fine roots within the root system. The CityTree model’s simulation showed that the ability of this cultivar to provide ecosystem services, including cooling and CO₂ fixation, was severely reduced. For use in harsh and dry urban environments, we recommend that urban managers take into account the capacity of trees to adapt to drought stress and provide sufficient rooting space, especially vertically, to help trees cope with drought. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth and Ecosystem Services of Urban Trees)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

12 pages, 1169 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mutual Influences of Urban Microclimate and Urban Trees: An Investigation of Phenology and Cooling Capacity

by Celina H. Stanley, Carola Helletsgruber and Angela Hof

Forests 2019, 10(7), 533; https://doi.org/10.3390/f10070533 - 26 Jun 2019

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4822

Abstract

This paper presents an empirical study on urban tree growth and regulating ecosystem services along an urban heat island (UHI) intensity gradient. The UHI effect on the length of the growing season and the association of cooling and shading with species, age, and size of trees was studied in Salzburg, Austria. Results show that areas with a low UHI intensity differed from areas with a medium or high UHI intensity significantly in three points: their bud break began later, the leaf discoloration took longer, and the growing season was shorter. After leaves have developed, trees cool the surface throughout the whole growing season by casting shadows. On average, the surfaces in the crown shade were 12.2 °C cooler than those in the sun. The tree characteristics had different effects on the cooling performance. In addition to tree height and trunk circumference, age was especially closely related to surface cooling. If a tree’s cooling capacity is to be estimated, tree age is the most suitable measure, also with respect to its assessment effort. Practitioners are advised to consider the different UHI intensities when maintaining or enhancing public greenery. The cooling capacity of tall, old trees is needed especially in areas with a high UHI intensity. In the future, species differences should be examined to determine the best adapted species for the different UHI intensities. The present results can be the basis for modeling future mutual influences of microclimate and urban trees. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth and Ecosystem Services of Urban Trees)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 5980 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Structure, Diversity, and Carbon Stocks of the Tree Community of Kumasi, Ghana

by Bertrand Festus Nero, Daniel Callo-Concha and Manfred Denich

Forests 2018, 9(9), 519; https://doi.org/10.3390/f9090519 - 29 Aug 2018

Cited by 28 | Viewed by 6440

Abstract

Urban forestry has the potential to address many urban environmental and sustainability challenges. Yet in Africa, urban forest characterization and its potential to contribute to human wellbeing are often neglected or restrained. This paper describes the structure, diversity, and composition of an urban forest and its potential to store carbon as a means of climate change mitigation and adaptation in Kumasi. The vegetation inventory included a survey of 470,100-m² plots based on a stratified random sampling technique and six streets ranging from 50 m to 1 km. A total of 3757 trees, comprising 176 species and 46 families, were enumerated. Tree abundance and species richness were left skewed and unimodally distributed based on diameter at breast height (DBH). Trees in the diameter classes >60 cm together had the lowest species richness (17%) and abundance (9%), yet contributed more than 50% of the total carbon stored in trees within the city. Overall, about 1.2 million tonnes of carbon is captured in aboveground components of trees in Kumasi, with a mean of 228 t C ha⁻¹. Tree density, DBH, height, basal area, aboveground carbon storage, and species richness were significantly different among green spaces (p < 0.05). The diversity was also significantly different among urban zones (p < 0.0005). The DBH distribution of trees followed a modified reverse J-shaped model. The urban forest structure and composition is quite unique. The practice of urban forestry has the potential to conserve biological diversity and combat climate change. The introduction of policies and actions to support the expansion of urban forest cover and diversity is widely encouraged. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth and Ecosystem Services of Urban Trees)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 5800 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Preferences of Tourists for the Service Quality of Taichung Calligraphy Greenway in Taiwan

by Wan-Yu Liu and Ching Chuang

Forests 2018, 9(8), 462; https://doi.org/10.3390/f9080462 - 30 Jul 2018

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4208

Abstract

This study explores preferences for a set of attributes that characterize the recreational value of Calligraphy Greenway, the most notable greenbelt in Taichung City, Taiwan. As an urban green space, the Calligraphy Greenway has its own recreational attributes and visitors’ preferences. This study uses the choice experiment method to determine visitors’ preference levels for five major attributes to improve the recreational quality. On average, each visitor visited there 9.15 times in the past year and spent 2.37 h per visit. Of the five recreational attributes, satisfaction with recreational activity opportunities had the highest score and satisfaction with cultural landscape resources had the lowest score. The importance is ranked in the order of recreational service quality, total recreational cost, environmental landscape resources, cultural landscape resources and recreational activity opportunities. Considering difference of groups, female visitors were more concerned with cost and activities but male visitors were more concerned with service quality and natural/cultural landscape resources. Local visitors were more concerned with cost and activities but non-local visitors were more concerned with environmental/cultural landscape resources. Both were concerned with service quality. Based on the results, this study makes the following recommendations: cultural landscape resources and quality of recreational services and facilities should be improved and more complete interpretative educational guidance should be provided to increase visitors’ willingness to visit. Additionally, it is suggested to set up various districts to cater for preferences of different visitor groups. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth and Ecosystem Services of Urban Trees)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 3954 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Urban Park Systems to Support Sustainability: The Role of Urban Park Systems in Hot Arid Urban Climates

by Gunwoo Kim and Paul Coseo

Forests 2018, 9(7), 439; https://doi.org/10.3390/f9070439 - 22 Jul 2018

Cited by 34 | Viewed by 7295

Abstract

Quantifying ecosystem services in urban areas is complex. However, existing ecosystem service typologies and ecosystem modeling can provide a means towards understanding some key biophysical links between urban forests and ecosystem services. This project addresses broader concepts of sustainability by assessing the urban park system in Phoenix, Arizona’s hot urban climate. This project aims to quantify and demonstrate the multiple ecosystem services provided by Phoenix’s green infrastructure (i.e., urban park system), including its air pollution removal values, carbon sequestration and storage, avoided runoff, structural value, and the energy savings it provides for city residents. Modeling of ecosystem services of the urban park system revealed around 517,000 trees within the system, representing a 7.20% tree cover. These trees remove about 3630 tons (t) of carbon (at an associated value of $285,000) and about 272 t of air pollutants (at an associated value of $1.16 million) every year. Trees within Phoenix’s urban park system are estimated to reduce annual residential energy costs by $106,000 and their structural value is estimated at $692 million. The findings of this research will increase our knowledge of the value of green infrastructure services provided by different types of urban vegetation and assist in the future design, planning and management of green infrastructure in cities. Thus, this study has implications for both policy and practice, contributing to a better understanding of the multiple benefits of green infrastructure and improving the design of green spaces in hot arid urban climates around the globe. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth and Ecosystem Services of Urban Trees)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 2428 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Influence of Individual-Specific Plant Parameters and Species Composition on the Allergenic Potential of Urban Green Spaces

by Susanne Jochner-Oette, Theresa Stitz, Johanna Jetschni and Paloma Cariñanos

Forests 2018, 9(6), 284; https://doi.org/10.3390/f9060284 - 23 May 2018

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 10663

Abstract

Green planning focusses on specific site requirements such as temperature tolerance or aesthetics as crucial criteria in the choice of plants. The allergenicity of plants, however, is often neglected. Cariñanos et al. (2014; Landscape and Urban Planning, 123: 134–144) developed the Urban Green Zone Allergenicity Index (I_UGZA) that considers a variety of plant characteristics to calculate the allergenic potential of urban green spaces. Based on this index, we calculated an index for the individual-specific allergenic potential (I_ISA) that accounts for a varying foliage volume by accurate measurements of crown heights and surface areas occupied by each tree and only included mature individuals. The studied park, located in Eichstätt, Germany, has an area of 2.2 ha and consists of 231 trees. We investigated the influence of species composition using six planting scenarios and analysed the relationship between allergenic potential and species diversity using Shannon index. Only a small number of trees was female and therefore characterised as non-allergenic, 9% of the trees were classified as sources of main local allergens. The allergenic potential of the park based on literature values for crown height and surface was I_UGZA = 0.173. Applying our own measurements resulted in I_ISA = 0.018. The scenarios indicated that replacing trees considered as sources of main local allergens has the strongest impact on the park’s allergenic potential. The I_UGZA offers an easy way to assess the allergenic potential of a park by the use of a few calculations. The I_ISA reduces the high influence of the foliage volume but there are constraints in practicability and in speed of the analysis. Although our study revealed that a greater biodiversity was not necessarily linked to lower index values, urban green planning should focus on biodiversity for ameliorating the allergenic potential of parks. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth and Ecosystem Services of Urban Trees)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

7 pages, 1036 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Tree Vitality Assessment in Urban Landscapes

by David Callow, Peter May and Denise M. Johnstone

Forests 2018, 9(5), 279; https://doi.org/10.3390/f9050279 - 21 May 2018

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 6755

Abstract

The recent prolonged drought in Melbourne, Australia has had a deleterious effect on the urban forest, resulting in the premature decline of many mature trees and a consequent decline in the environmental services that trees are able to provide to urban residents. Measuring the severity of tree stress and defoliation due to various climatic factors is essential to the ongoing delivery of environmental services such as shade and carbon sequestration. This study evaluates two methods to assess the vitality of drought stressed Elm trees within an inner-city environment—bark chlorophyll fluorescence measured on large branches and an urban visual vitality index. Study species were Ulmus procera Salisb. (English Elm) and Ulmus × hollandica (Dutch Elm), which are important character and shade tree species for Melbourne. Relationships were identified between leaf water potential and the urban visual vitality index and between leaf water potential and bark chlorophyll fluorescence measured on large branches, indicating that these methods could be used to assess the effect of long-term drought and other stressors on urban trees. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth and Ecosystem Services of Urban Trees)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 3543 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Urban Forest Basal Area under China’s Rapid Urban Expansion and Greening: Implications for Urban Green Infrastructure Management

by Zhibin Ren, Xingyuan He, Haifeng Zheng and Hongxu Wei

Forests 2018, 9(5), 272; https://doi.org/10.3390/f9050272 - 17 May 2018

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4409 | Retraction

Abstract

Urban forest (UF) basal area is an important parameter of UF structures, which can influence the functions of the UF ecosystem. However, the spatio-temporal pattern of the basal area in a given UF in regions under rapid urbanization and greening is still not well documented. Our study explores the potential of estimating spatio-temporal UF basal area by using Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery. In our study, the predicting model was established to produce spatiotemporal maps of the urban forest basal area index in Changchun, China for the years 1984, 1995, 2005, and 2014. Our results showed that urban forests became more and more fragmented due to rapid urbanization from 1984 to 1995. Along with rapid urban greening after 1995, urban forest patches became larger and larger, creating a more homogeneous landscape. Urban forest and its basal area in the whole study area increased gradually from 1984 to 2014, especially in the outer belts of the city with urban sprawl. UF basal area was 27.3 × 10³ m², 41.3 × 10³ m², 45.8 × 10³ m², and 65.1 × 10³ m² of the entire study area for the year 1984, 1995, 2005, and 2014, respectively. The class distribution of the UF basal area index was skewed toward low values across all four years. In contrast, the frequency of a higher UF basal area index increased gradually from 1984 to 2014. Besides, the UF basal area index showed a decreasing trend along the gradient from suburban areas to urban center areas. Our results demonstrate the capability of TM remote sensing for understanding spatio-temporal changing patterns of UF basal area under China’s rapid urban expansion and greening. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth and Ecosystem Services of Urban Trees)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 2096 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Modeling Ecosystem Services for Park Trees: Sensitivity of i-Tree Eco Simulations to Light Exposure and Tree Species Classification

by Rocco Pace, Peter Biber, Hans Pretzsch and Rüdiger Grote

Forests 2018, 9(2), 89; https://doi.org/10.3390/f9020089 - 13 Feb 2018

Cited by 35 | Viewed by 9383

Abstract

Ecosystem modeling can help decision making regarding planting of urban trees for climate change mitigation and air pollution reduction. Algorithms and models that link the properties of plant functional types, species groups, or single species to their impact on specific ecosystem services have been developed. However, these models require a considerable effort for initialization that is inherently related to uncertainties originating from the high diversity of plant species in urban areas. We therefore suggest a new automated method to be used with the i-Tree Eco model to derive light competition for individual trees and investigate the importance of this property. Since competition depends also on the species, which is difficult to determine from increasingly used remote sensing methodologies, we also investigate the impact of uncertain tree species classification on the ecosystem services by comparing a species-specific inventory determined by field observation with a genus-specific categorization and a model initialization for the dominant deciduous and evergreen species only. Our results show how the simulation of competition affects the determination of carbon sequestration, leaf area, and related ecosystem services and that the proposed method provides a tool for improving estimations. Misclassifications of tree species can lead to large deviations in estimates of ecosystem impacts, particularly concerning biogenic volatile compound emissions. In our test case, monoterpene emissions almost doubled and isoprene emissions decreased to less than 10% when species were estimated to belong only to either two groups instead of being determined by species or genus. It is discussed that this uncertainty of emission estimates propagates further uncertainty in the estimation of potential ozone formation. Overall, we show the importance of using an individual light competition approach and explicitly parameterizing all ecosystem functions at the species-specific level. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth and Ecosystem Services of Urban Trees)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Growth and Ecosystem Services of Urban Trees

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Published Papers (10 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI