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Forests
Special Issues
Designing Future Urban Forests
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Designing Future Urban Forests

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Urban Forestry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 May 2023) | Viewed by 13767

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Michael Andreu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatic Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
Interests: biodiversity; sustainability; urban forestry; forest sustainability; forest management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Basil V. Iannone

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatic Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
Interests: urban ecology; urban biodiversity; designed ecosystems; biological invasions
Dr. Ryan W. Klein

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Horticulture, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
Interests: arboriculture; human and tree interactions; tree risk assessment; trees and storms; urban forestry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Background: Urban land cover is predicted to triple globally by the year 2030, leading to a variety of environmental impacts, including forest fragmentation and loss, and declines in native biodiversity and the various benefits provided by forests. With more than half of the human population now residing in urban landscapes, a question emerges: can we design, construct, and manage built, urban environments to deliver the same ecological benefits and services as those provided by forests? Currently, the design of these built environments largely focuses on aesthetics rather than functionality, as evidenced by the increased maintenance costs, shorter plant life expectancy, and limited ecological benefits caused by poor tree and plant species selection. Given the degree to which human perception, choice, and markets drive plant community composition and vegetation management in built, urban landscapes, such research needs to at least consider, if not embrace, social, economic, and ecological components of urban ecosystems. The editors view this challenge as an opportunity to reimagine built, urban landscapes that contribute to, rather than hinder, conservation of biodiversity and the important benefits that humans receive from nature, particularly forests.

Papers Solicited: We welcome papers that address all aspects of designing, constructing, and managing built, urban landscapes and remnant urban natural areas to ensure these systems provide urbanites with the long-term benefits provided by forests. Papers can be on synthesis/reviews, empirical, or modeling studies. This topic requires interdisciplinary thinking. Thus, we welcome papers focusing on environmental, ecological, social, economic, policy, and a mixture of these topics. While studies need not be interdisciplinary, we do request that authors address interdisciplinary considerations of their work in the paper’s discussion.  

Prof. Dr. Michael Andreu
Prof. Dr. Basil V. Iannone
Prof. Dr. Ryan W. Klein
Guest Editors

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

  • ecosystem services
  • habitat recreation
  • interdisciplinary science
  • policy
  • resilience
  • sustainability
  • social–ecological systems
  • urban biodiversity
  • urban forests
  • vegetation structure

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 9056 KiB  
Article
Distribution of CO2 Concentration and Its Spatial Influencing Indices in Urban Park Green Space
by Yunfang Jiang, Yangqi Liu, Yingchao Sun and Xianghua Li
Forests 2023, 14(7), 1396; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14071396 - 9 Jul 2023
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2439
Abstract
Park green spaces (PGSs) are an important component of urban natural carbon sinks, while their spatial morphological patterns can affect the carbon sequestration capacity themselves. This study selected six typical urban parks in the central district of Shanghai and analyzed the correlation between [...] Read more.
Park green spaces (PGSs) are an important component of urban natural carbon sinks, while their spatial morphological patterns can affect the carbon sequestration capacity themselves. This study selected six typical urban parks in the central district of Shanghai and analyzed the correlation between spatial morphological indices and CO2 concentration distribution of the PGSs based on ENVI-met and BRT models. It further explored the interaction mechanisms in the carbon cycling process of urban PGSs under the influence of different spatial morphology. The results shows that urban PGSs play the role of carbon sink in diurnal period, and the difference of CO2 concentration distribution in green space is the largest at 11 a.m. The green biomass (Gb) and arboreal area ratio (Ar) are the most important indices affecting the distribution of carbon concentration. The two indices describing spatial patterns, namely, Cohesion (Co) and canopy density (CanopyD) also significantly impact CO2 concentration. These indices have a positive impact on carbon sinks. The parkway area ratio (Pr) is a disturbing index that also has an obvious negative impact on the distribution of CO2 concentration. The moderate herbs area ratio (Hr) and open land area ratio (Or) are conducive to regulating the microclimate environment and enhancing carbon sink capacity. There is an interactive relationship between spatial indices and microclimate environment indices, as well as physical and physiological indices in the carbon sink process of green areas. The study suggested that in green space management aiming at carbon reduction, combined with the influence threshold of Gb on carbon reduction and paying attention to the importance of green amount on carbon sequestration, the vegetation density and allocation ratio should be rationally distributed to form a park green space landscape with efficient carbon fixation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Designing Future Urban Forests)
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15 pages, 1402 KiB  
Article
Water Availability Determines Tree Growth and Physiological Response to Biotic and Abiotic Stress in a Temperate North American Urban Forest
by Adam G. Dale and Steven D. Frank
Forests 2022, 13(7), 1012; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13071012 - 28 Jun 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3691
Abstract
Warmer temperatures and frequent drought directly affect urban tree health. Both abiotic conditions also affect tree health via increased density of some insect pests. Warming is predicted to benefit urban trees by increasing carbon sequestration and allocation to biomass. However, increased drought and [...] Read more.
Warmer temperatures and frequent drought directly affect urban tree health. Both abiotic conditions also affect tree health via increased density of some insect pests. Warming is predicted to benefit urban trees by increasing carbon sequestration and allocation to biomass. However, increased drought and pests are rarely considered despite often co-occurring with heat. To determine the combined effects of these abiotic and biotic factors, we manipulated water availability for established urban red maple trees across a gradient of warming and pest density and measured leaf-level processes and tree growth over two years. We find that water availability is a major determinant of tree growth, physiological processes, and resilience to urban stress factors. Maples performed better with more water, which also made them resistant to effects of temperature and pest density. However, when drought became too severe, leaf-level processes declined with warming. Tree basal area growth was unaffected after two years, but stem elongation increased with increasing water, temperature, and pest density. We discuss potential mechanisms driving these responses and the implications in the context of urban forest management. Urban forest designs that reduce drought and align species adaptations to local conditions are critical for designing more resilient and productive urban forests. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Designing Future Urban Forests)
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21 pages, 2048 KiB  
Article
Construction and Proactive Management Led to Tree Removals on an Urban College Campus
by Lara A. Roman, Jason P. Fristensky, Robert E. Lundgren, Chloe E. Cerwinka and Jason E. Lubar
Forests 2022, 13(6), 871; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13060871 - 1 Jun 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3123
Abstract
Urban trees in lawns and along streets are anthropogenically constructed systems, in that these tree communities are formed by human planting and removal actions. Tree mortality studies are essential to understanding the temporal dynamism of urban forests, and in particular, it is critical [...] Read more.
Urban trees in lawns and along streets are anthropogenically constructed systems, in that these tree communities are formed by human planting and removal actions. Tree mortality studies are essential to understanding the temporal dynamism of urban forests, and in particular, it is critical to incorporate institutional records and human decision-making regarding tree removals. In this study, we investigated tree removals on a highly urbanized college campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (US) by analyzing field inventories and institutional records, and by considering firsthand accounts of the University Landscape Architect. The annual mortality rate was 4.3%, higher than typical for comparable studies, which we attribute to construction pressure and proactive management to promptly remove unhealthy trees and manage risk. Capital projects and other construction caused 48.5% of all removals, other human land use decisions caused 2.0%, and tree health decline and risk management collectively accounted for 48.7%. The number of removed trees exactly equaled the number of new trees, and the campus has high taxonomic diversity, reflecting the extensive oversight by university tree and landscape professionals regarding tree removal and planting decisions. This study demonstrates the value of mixed-methods and transdisciplinary research to understand how urban forests change over time. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Designing Future Urban Forests)
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20 pages, 5704 KiB  
Article
An Ecosystem Services-Centric Land Use and Land Cover Classification for a Subbasin of the Tampa Bay Watershed
by John J. Lagrosa IV, Wayne C. Zipperer and Michael G. Andreu
Forests 2022, 13(5), 745; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13050745 - 11 May 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2724
Abstract
Land-use and land-cover (LULC) change is a primary driver of terrestrial carbon release, often through the conversion of forest into agriculture or expansion of urban areas. Classification schemes are a key component of landscape analyses. This study creates a novel LULC classification scheme [...] Read more.
Land-use and land-cover (LULC) change is a primary driver of terrestrial carbon release, often through the conversion of forest into agriculture or expansion of urban areas. Classification schemes are a key component of landscape analyses. This study creates a novel LULC classification scheme by incorporating ecological data to redefine classes of an existing LULC classification based on variation in above-ground tree carbon. A tree inventory was conducted for 531 plots within a subbasin of the Tampa Bay Watershed, Florida, USA. Above-ground tree carbon was estimated using the i-Tree model. Plots were classified using the Florida Land Use Cover Classification System. Mean quantities of above-ground tree carbon, by class, were tested for statistical differences. A reclassification was conducted based on these differences. Sub-classes within a given “land cover” class were similar for six of the seven classes. Significant differences were found within the “Wetlands” class based on vegetation cover, forming two distinct groups: “Forested Wetlands” and “Non-forested and Mangrove Wetlands”. The urban “land use” class showed differences between “Residential” and “Non-residential” sub-classes, forming two new classes. LULC classifications can sometimes aggregate areas perceived as similar that are in fact distinct regarding ecological variables. These aggregations can obscure the true variation in a parameter at the landscape scale. Therefore, a study’s classification system should be designed to reflect landscape variation in the parameter(s) of interest. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Designing Future Urban Forests)
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