Assessing urban forest effects and values, Philladelphia's urban forest

Nowak, David J.; Hoehn, Robert E.; Crane, Daniel E.; Stevens, Jack C.; Walton, Jeffrey T.

doi:10.2737/nrs-rb-7

Cited by 49 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…The measurements of trees/shrubs were conducted according to the manual of UFORE (Nowak et al 2005). For herb plots, the average height of each species was measured as the average height of three individuals that appeared to be of median height.…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Plant species composition in green spaces within the built-up areas of Beijing, China

et al. 2009

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Plant species composition is a critical issue in ecological research. Studies on the characteristics of plant species composition in the built-up areas, however, are hampered by a lack of basic field-based investigation. In this article, the plant species composition in the built-up areas of Beijing, China, is investigated using abundant field observations. The origin of species, chorological spectra, life forms and plant communities were determined. The characteristic species in each type of green space were determined by k-means classification, and urban plant communities were identified by two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN). Plant species composition in the built-up areas was further compared with that in natural mountain floras in Beijing to reveal the differences in life form composition and chorological spectra, and the coincidence of species in the two communities. A total of 618 plant species belonging to 349 genera and 103 families were identified. Our results revealed wide chorological spectra with trees dominated by deciduous species. Although native plant species were widely distributed, 53% of the plant species were aliens, among which 67% were introduced from America and other Asian countries. Furthermore, the characteristics of the plant species composition in the built-up areas are significantly different from those of the natural habitats. Our results highlight the dramatic changes in characteristics of plant species composition in the built-up area of Beijing. Several suggestions are proposed to increase the diversity of native species through the planning and management of green spaces.

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Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Plant species composition in green spaces within the built-up areas of Beijing, China

et al. 2009

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“…Many other cities in China, as well as in other countries have also implemented similar policies aiming to increase urban greenspace. For example, many cities in the USA have established their Urban Tree Canopy (UTC) goals for tree planting programs, such as the Million Trees Campaign in New York City, and the Million Trees LA in Los Angeles, as a part of their sustainability plans to achieve such benefits as microclimate regulation, stormwater management, and cultural ecosystem services (Nowak 2007;Huang et al 2011). Urban greenspace at the fine scale in these cities is dynamic, which warrants further investigation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These include regulation of climate and water cycles (Bolund and Hunhammar 1999;Zhou et al 2011), noise reduction (Pathak et al 2011), air pollution mitigation (Yang et al 2005;Nowak et al 2006), reduced energy use (Ng et al 2012), increased property values (Tajima 2003), and improved aesthetics (Home et al 2010). Presence of urban vegetation can also contribute to reductions in residents' stress and feelings of anger and anxiety (Thompson et al 2012), and generate stronger social cohesion and community empowerment (Wolf and Housley 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying spatiotemporal pattern of urban greenspace: new insights from high resolution data

et al. 2015

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Context Urban greenspace provides myriad ecosystem services. To fully understand the ecological services provided by urban greenspace, it is crucial to first accurately quantify the composition and configuration, and change of urban greenspace. Objectives (1) Quantify the dynamics of greenspace in highly urbanized areas. (2) Compare and evaluate the efficacy of medium and high resolution image data on quantifying urban greenspace dynamics. Methods Using two very well-developed urban districts of Beijing, we compare and contrast the changes in urban greenspace from 2005 to 2009 based on two different datasets, the most commonly used Landsat TM data with 30 m resolution, and 2.5 m high spatial resolution imagery.Results We found urban greenspace in the two welldeveloped urban districts of Beijing to be very dynamic, in contrast to findings from previous research that greenspace in inner cities tends to remain largely unchanged. Such dynamics, however, could only be revealed by high spatial resolution imagery because medium resolution data, such as TM data greatly underestimated the percent cover of greenspace. The underestimate neglects smaller elements of greenspace as well as changes in configuration of larger patches, limiting the ability of TM data to detect such changes. Conclusions Our results underscore the importance and necessity of using high spatial resolution data to adequately quantify the distribution of urban greenspace and its change. Results from this study have important implications for urban greenspace management and planning. In addition, the dynamics revealed support emerging conceptions of urban areas as hierarchical patch mosaics.

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“…UFORE estimated that NYC's forest stores 1.35 million tons of carbon, a service valued at $24.9 million. The forest sequesters an additional 42,300 tons of carbon per year (valued at $779,000 per year) and about 2,202 tons of air pollution per year (valued at $10.6 million per year; Nowak et al 2007). …”

Section: The Ecological Value Of Urban Forestsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Effects of the Urban Forest Restoration Effect of MillionTreesNYC on the STructure and Functioning of NEw York City Ecosystems

McPhearson¹,

Feller²,

Felson³

et al. 2010

CATE

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Current forest restoration practices for New York City's (NYC) MillionTreesNYC Initiative on public parkland include site preparation with extensive invasive species removal and tree and shrub planting with the goal of creating new multi-layered forests. We have launched a longterm investigation of these sites in order to understand the primary physical, chemical, and biological responses of urban ecosystems to MillionTreesNYC forest restoration practices. This research will examine high and low diversity tree and understory planting combinations in permanent experimental forest restoration plots across NYC. The study assesses how the interactions between soil heterogeneity, plant population dynamics, and forest restoration management strategies drive urban forest ecosystem structure and functioning. Working in collaboration with the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation (NYC Parks) and the MillionTreesNYC tree planting campaign, we are examining different restoration strategies to assess how restoration practices affect the ecological development trajectories of newly established forests in NYC.

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Assessing urban forest effects and values, Philladelphia's urban forest

Cited by 49 publications

References 5 publications

Plant species composition in green spaces within the built-up areas of Beijing, China

Plant species composition in green spaces within the built-up areas of Beijing, China

Quantifying spatiotemporal pattern of urban greenspace: new insights from high resolution data

Assessing the Effects of the Urban Forest Restoration Effect of MillionTreesNYC on the STructure and Functioning of NEw York City Ecosystems

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