Historical Urban Tree Canopy Cover Change in Two Post-Industrial Cities

Healy, Marc; Rogan, John; Roman, Lara A.; Nix, Sabine; Martin, Deborah; Geron, Nicholas

doi:10.1007/s00267-022-01614-x

Cited by 11 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Indeed, 38.5% of the 2003 inventory was removed over the entire 11-year period, and the same amount planted (albeit not necessarily at the same planting sites), representing high turnover. Our data reflects the dynamism of urban forest systems, as trees and greenspaces are frequently added to and removed from these systems due to human interests and land use changes [9,11,39,[84][85][86]. Construction activities can lead to both tree removal and plantings, making construction-related processes and data streams critical for improved understandings of urban tree demography and shifting diversity [8,87].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Construction and Proactive Management Led to Tree Removals on an Urban College Campus

Roman

Fristensky

Lundgren

et al. 2022

Forests

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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.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Construction and Proactive Management Led to Tree Removals on an Urban College Campus

Roman

Fristensky

Lundgren

et al. 2022

Forests

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“…The high impact of canopy cover changes attributed to small aged-out/replacement trees is likely due to their disproportionate number across scenarios compared to other size classes (details provided in Table S8; a summary of existing, replacement, and additional trees per location is also provided in Table S9). It also highlighted the importance of integrated and early planning of urban development and urban forests, as the decisions urban foresters make now will likely have significant legacy impacts on urban forests of the future (Healy et al 2022).…”

Section: Outcomes Of Future Urban Forest Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling Four Neighbourhood-Scale Urban Forest Scenarios for 2050: Vancouver, Canada

Czekajlo,

Cheng,

Barron

et al. 2023

isa

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Background Urban forests are increasingly recognized as important tools in climate change mitigation and adaptation, prompting many cities to set tree canopy cover targets. However, current gaps in knowledge include understanding relationships and the feasibility of maximizing benefits between urban greening and other climate actions, such as densification. This study offers a data-driven and manageable framework for assessing current and anticipated future urban forestry conditions using spatial tree and built-form models. Methods We spatially modelled 4 planting scenarios for increasing tree canopy cover by 2050 in a densifying neighbourhood in Vancouver, Canada, with low (< 10%) existing tree canopy. Results Based on mortality assumptions, we aged out and replaced 1,853 to 2,445 trees since 2020. We added 6,079 to 11,726 trees across the 4 scenarios (10,228 to 15,823 total), increasing canopy cover from 7% in 2020 to a maximum of 16% by 2050. Despite rigorous tree planting, we were unable to achieve a 30% canopy cover target at neighbourhood scale. Tree replacement due to mortality was a major contributor to decreased canopy cover and volume in future scenarios. The 31% to 34% reduction in future canopy cover due to the replacement of aged-out trees was driven by changes on private parcels. Conclusion Our systematic framework for generating and spatially modelling trees in a simulated future neighbourhood provides an opportunity for iteratively assessing multiple potential tree planting configurations. Future work for this project includes investigating social-ecological, outdoor shading, and building energy implications of various modelled urban forest strategies.

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“…The use of archival and contemporary aerial photography is a method offering valuable information on past or baseline landscape conditions, making them useful for mapping, understanding, and monitoring change over time [80][81][82]. Images of this type have been used for many decades in scientific research in a variety of approaches, including, but not limited to, observations of the transformation of urban structures [83][84][85], including on the basis of comparisons of historical and contemporary images [86], land use and land cover transformations [64,87,88], and landscape ecology and transformation [80,[89][90][91][92][93]. Significantly, there is a publication presenting the results of a land cover structure study based on aerial photographs for Gorlice.…”

Section: State Of Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial, Functional, and Landscape Changes in a Medium-Sized Post-Industrial City Based on Aerial Photo Analysis: The Case of Gorlice (Poland)

Wantuch-Matla,

Dorocki,

Kroczak

2023

Sustainability

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The article presents the spatial-functional transformations of a medium-sized post-industrial city in the context of the decline in the industrial function which used to occupy a prominent position in the city. The research attempts to answer the following questions: (1) What has been reflected in the spatial and functional development of the city and its landscape by the dynamic transformations in the industrial sector that have taken place since the 1970s, playing out in the broad context of the specific political and socio-economic conditions? and (2) how is the city dealing with post-industrial sites—are we dealing with a ‘post-industrial scar’ or a process of their adaptation to the needs of the present? Analyses were initiated to identify differences in spatial and landscape structure from 1966 to the present. To this end, a land cover analysis was carried out based on available sets of aerial photographs taken in four selected years within the study period, as well as a calculation of the index of variation. Graphical and GIS software (QGIS 3.28.4 version) and methods of statistical data analysis were used. To come up with a full picture of transformations in the second half of the 20th century, an outline of the historical spatial development of Gorlice and the local oil and engineering industry was presented. The results of the research confirm the relationship between the functional and spatial development of the city and the transformation and condition of its industrial function.

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Historical Urban Tree Canopy Cover Change in Two Post-Industrial Cities

Cited by 11 publications

References 48 publications

Construction and Proactive Management Led to Tree Removals on an Urban College Campus

Construction and Proactive Management Led to Tree Removals on an Urban College Campus

Modelling Four Neighbourhood-Scale Urban Forest Scenarios for 2050: Vancouver, Canada

Spatial, Functional, and Landscape Changes in a Medium-Sized Post-Industrial City Based on Aerial Photo Analysis: The Case of Gorlice (Poland)

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