scholarly journals The economic benefits of reductions in nitrogen loads from stormwater runoff by street trees

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana D. Baptista ◽  
Marco Amati ◽  
Tim D. Fletcher ◽  
Matthew J. Burns
Keyword(s):  
Stormwater Runoff ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Annual Runoff ◽  
Urban Trees ◽  
Deciduous Trees ◽  
Street Trees ◽  
Runoff Volume ◽  
Nitrogen Loads ◽  
Tree Canopy Cover ◽  
The Impact

Abstract It is increasingly recognised that urban trees can contribute to reducing stormwater runoff by intercepting and retaining a fraction of rainfall received. What is less studied is the translation of this to reduced pollutant loads being transferred to receiving streams, rivers, and water bodies. In this paper, we assess interception of two tree species (Eucalyptus microcorys and Ulmus procera) in an urban park. This data is used in simple water balance modelling to predict the environmental and economic benefit of reducing nitrogen loads to receiving waterways as a function of reduced runoff volume resulting from rainfall interception by urban trees on public land (21% of the catchment area). We use a highly urbanized catchment in Melbourne, Australia to demonstrate the impact of an urban forest dominated by deciduous trees, evergreen trees or a mixed tree canopy cover. We found that doubling the urban canopy cover in the catchment, while keeping the current mix ratio of deciduous and evergreen trees, could reduce annual runoff volume by 30 mm (92 MLyr−1). Using the prescribed values that developers must pay the local water authority for nitrogen treatment as a condition of new development, we calculate that this would deliver a nitrogen load removal benefit of AUD$ 200/tree. If only deciduous trees are planted the annual runoff reduction would decrease to 24 mm (73 MLyr−1) and increases to 37 mm (112 MLyr−1) if only evergreen trees are planted. This study highlights both the additional benefits of public street trees and the differences in deciduous and evergreen trees which should be accounted for by policy makers.

scholarly journals A Case Study Balancing Predetermined Targets and Real-World Constraints to Guide Optimum Urban Tree Canopy Cover for Perth, Western Australia

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1128
Author(s):  
Jackie Parker ◽  
Greg D. Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Urban Trees ◽  
Conceptual Tool ◽  
Urban Tree ◽  
Tree Canopy Cover ◽  
Urban Tree Canopy ◽  
Social Environmental

Trees in urban settings are becoming increasingly important as mediators to emerging challenges that transect social, environmental, and economic factors. Trees provide shade; absorb and store atmospheric carbon and other pollutants; reduce local temperature fluctuations; provide essential inner-city fauna habitat; assist in reducing over-land stormwater flow; provide amenity; and provide many more social, environmental, and economic benefits. To secure these benefits, tree canopy cover targets are commonly employed by land managers; however, such targets are rarely quantified against the characteristics and limitations of individual urban centers. Through the generation and interrogation of qualitative and quantitative data, this case study of Perth, Western Australia presents a new conceptual tool that integrates eleven factors found to influence the capacity and opportunity for a city to support urban tree canopy cover. This tool is designed to capture and causally weigh urban tree canopy considerations based on individual city characteristics, collective values, and identifiable constraints. The output of the tool provides an “optimum” tree canopy cover result (as a percentage of the urban fabric) to better inform canopy cover targets and recommendations for urban tree strategic planning and management. This tool is valuable for urban land managers, city planners, urban designers, and communities in effective planning, management, valuation, and investment regarding urban trees as a sub-set of urban green infrastructure.

scholarly journals ASSESSING URBAN FOREST CANOPY COVER IN GREAT PLAIN CONSERVATION AREA (DÜZCE CITY, TURKEY) BETWEEN 1984 AND 2015

2021 ◽  
Vol XLVI-4/W5-2021 ◽  
pp. 539-544
Author(s):  
Z. Uçar ◽  
R. Eker ◽  
A. Aydin
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Urban Trees ◽  
Conservation Area ◽  
Urban Tree ◽  
Tree Canopy Cover ◽  
Urban Tree Canopy

Abstract. Urban trees and forests are essential components of the urban environment. They can provide numerous ecosystem services and goods, including but not limited to recreational opportunities and aesthetic values, removal of air pollutants, improving air and water quality, providing shade and cooling effect, reducing energy use, and storage of atmospheric CO2. However, urban trees and forests have been in danger of being lost by dense housing resulting from population growth in the cities since the 1950s, leading to increased local temperature, pollution level, and flooding risk. Thus, determining the status of urban trees and forests is necessary for comprehensive understanding and quantifying the ecosystem services and goods. Tree canopy cover is a relatively quick, easy to obtain, and cost-effective urban forestry metric broadly used to estimate ecosystem services and goods of the urban forest. This study aimed to determine urban forest canopy cover areas and monitor the changes between 1984–2015 for the Great Plain Conservation area (GPCA) that has been declared as a conservation Area (GPCA) in 2017, located on the border of Düzce City (Western Black Sea Region of Turkey). Although GPCA is a conservation area for agricultural purposes, it consists of the city center with 250,000 population and most settlement areas. A random point sampling approach, the most common sampling approach, was applied to estimate urban tree canopy cover and their changes over time from historical aerial imageries. Tree canopy cover ranged from 16.0% to 27.4% within the study period. The changes in urban canopy cover between 1984–1999 and 1999–2015 were statistically significant, while there was no statistical difference compared to the changes in tree canopy cover between 1984–2015. The result of the study suggested that an accurate estimate of urban tree canopy cover and monitoring long-term canopy cover changes are essential to determine the current situation and the trends for the future. It will help city planners and policymakers in decision-making processes for the future of urban areas.

scholarly journals Are the effects of vegetation and soil changes as important as climate change impacts on hydrological processes?

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (12) ◽  
pp. 4933-4954 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kabir Rasouli ◽  
John W. Pomeroy ◽  
Paul H. Whitfield
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Annual Runoff ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Hydrological Processes ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change ◽  
Runoff Volume ◽  
Mountain Basins ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Soil Changes

Abstract. Hydrological processes are widely understood to be sensitive to changes in climate, but the effects of concomitant changes in vegetation and soils have seldom been considered in snow-dominated mountain basins. The response of mountain hydrology to vegetation/soil changes in the present and a future climate was modeled in three snowmelt-dominated mountain basins in the North American Cordillera. The models developed for each basin using the Cold Regions Hydrological Modeling platform employed current and expected changes to vegetation and soil parameters and were driven with recent and perturbed high-altitude meteorological observations. Monthly perturbations were calculated using the differences in outputs between the present- and a future-climate scenario from 11 regional climate models. In the three basins, future climate change alone decreased the modeled peak snow water equivalent (SWE) by 11 %–47 % and increased the modeled evapotranspiration by 14 %–20 %. However, including future changes in vegetation and soil for each basin changed or reversed these climate change outcomes. In Wolf Creek in the Yukon Territory, Canada, a statistically insignificant increase in SWE due to vegetation increase in the alpine zone was found to offset the statistically significant decrease in SWE due to climate change. In Marmot Creek in the Canadian Rockies, the increase in annual runoff due to the combined effect of soil and climate change was statistically significant, whereas their individual effects were not. In the relatively warmer Reynolds Mountain in Idaho, USA, vegetation change alone decreased the annual runoff volume by 8 %, but changes in soil, climate, or both did not affect runoff. At high elevations in Wolf and Marmot creeks, the model results indicated that vegetation/soil changes moderated the impact of climate change on peak SWE, the timing of peak SWE, evapotranspiration, and the annual runoff volume. However, at medium elevations, these changes intensified the impact of climate change, further decreasing peak SWE and sublimation. The hydrological impacts of changes in climate, vegetation, and soil in mountain environments were similar in magnitude but not consistent in direction for all biomes; in some combinations, this resulted in enhanced impacts at lower elevations and latitudes and moderated impacts at higher elevations and latitudes.

An Assessment of Falling Trees Due Strong Winds in Lisbon: Affected Species and Microclimatic Simulation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Flavio Mendes ◽  
Felipe Petean ◽  
Antonio Lopes ◽  
Ezequiel Correia
Keyword(s):  
Visual Analysis ◽  
Hybrid Approach ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Urban Trees ◽  
Prunus Cerasifera ◽  
Tree Canopy Cover ◽  
Approach Method ◽  
Strong Winds ◽  
Microclimatic Simulation

Fallen trees due to strong winds are well recorded in Lisbon. However, specie identification is needed to increase urban trees management. This paper aimed the identification of the most vulnerable trees to strong winds in Lisbon, through a hybrid approach method by proximity. The occurrence database was compiled together with basic structural city maps. Four criteria were designed to presuppose the trees specie names by approximation: i) Trees must be within 15 m from the street center; ii) At least 3 individuals within 30 m from the occurrence must belong to the same specie; iii) The surrounding specie must be representative in the street (>50%); iv) Visual analysis of street/avenue medians. Microscale analysis through supervised classification and micrometeorological simulations od strong winds were performed. Morus nigra L., Tipuana tipu (Benth.) Kuntze, Liriodendron tulipifera L., Prunus cerasifera Ehrh. and Koelreuteria paniculata Laxm. were identified as the species that fall the most. In 57.7% of cases (425 fallen trees), the wind speed 12-hours before the occurrence was greater than 7 m s−1. Alvalade neighborhood showed 22.7% tree canopy cover while the microclimatic simulation revealed two main vulnerability zones: Brazil and Church avenues, where winds were stronger possibly due acceleration effect.

scholarly journals Blue-Green infrastructure determines the microclimate mitigation potential targeted for urban cooling

2021 ◽  
Vol 918 (1) ◽  
pp. 012010
Author(s):  
R Sanusi ◽  
M Jalil
Keyword(s):  
Air Temperature ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Open Space ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Community Benefits ◽  
Tree Canopy Cover ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Urban Heat Island (UHI) exacerbated by global warming can increase the thermal load in cities, which leads to more extreme climate events. One of the strategies to mitigate the impact of extreme climates and UHI is through nature-based solutions such as the Blue-Green Infrastructure as it provides environmental and community benefits However, Blue-Green Infrastructure’s role in urban cooling in the tropics still needs to be further investigated. Therefore, this study examined the role of Blue-Green Infrastructure on microclimate modifications in an urban park. Microclimate measurements were made using systematic random sampling with random start (total of 64 sampling points) at a waterbody (Blue Infrastructure) and tree and grass (Green Infrastructure) areas during solar noon time (1200-1400). Blue-Green Infrastructure showed greater microclimate benefits compared to the open space with the reduction of air temperature by up 1.6°C. However, green infrastructure had greater cooling benefits compared to Blue Infrastructure especially trees with significantly lower air temperature and solar radiation interception (0.71°C and 250.3 W/m2, respectively) as well as higher relative humidity (12.17%). Moreover, stand characteristics determine the microclimate mitigation function. This study provides a useful indication of the role of blue and green spaces in urban cooling, where it further emphasizes the importance of Blue-Green Infrastructure utilization in urban landscapes. It further recommends that urban planners, managers and policymakers should consider these strategies for urban cooling purposes : 1) Utilising Blue and Green Infrastructures especially trees 2) Tree canopy cover and DBH should be set as priority traits.

scholarly journals Residential housing segregation and urban tree canopy in 37 US Cities

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dexter Locke ◽  
Billy Hall ◽  
J Morgan Grove ◽  
Steward T.A. Pickett ◽  
Laura A. Ogden ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Housing Stock ◽  
Rank Order ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Urban Trees ◽  
Wealth Creation ◽  
Socioeconomic Impacts ◽  
Tree Canopy Cover ◽  
Loan Corporation

Redlining was a racially discriminatory housing policy established by the federal Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) during the 1930s. For decades, redlining limited access to homeownership and wealth creation among racial minorities, contributing to a host of adverse social outcomes, including high unemployment, poverty, and residential vacancy, that persist today. While the multigenerational socioeconomic impacts of redlining are increasingly understood, the impacts on urban environments and ecosystems remains unclear. To begin to address this gap, we investigated how the HOLC policy administered 80 years ago may relate to present-day tree canopy at the neighborhood level. Urban trees provide many ecosystem services, mitigate the urban heat island effect, and may improve quality of life in cities. In our prior research in Baltimore, MD, we discovered that redlining policy influenced the location and allocation of trees and parks. Our analysis of 37 metropolitan areas here shows that areas formerly graded D, which were mostly inhabited by racial and ethnic minorities, have on average ~23% tree canopy cover today. Areas formerly graded A, characterized by U.S.-born white populations living in newer housing stock, had nearly twice as much tree canopy (~43%). Results are consistent across small and large metropolitan regions. The ranking system used by Home Owners’ Loan Corporation to assess loan risk in the 1930s parallels the rank order of average percent tree canopy cover today.

scholarly journals Statistical Analysis of Vegetation and Stormwater Runoff in an Urban Watershed During Summer and Winter Storms in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Donovan ◽  
David Butry ◽  
Megan Mao
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Stormwater Runoff ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Urban Trees ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Model Structure ◽  
Urban Watershed ◽  
Tree Canopy Cover

Past research has examined the effect of urban trees, and other vegetation, on stormwater runoff using hydrological models or small-scale experiments. However, there has been no statistical analysis of the influence of vegetation on runoff in an intact urban watershed, and it is not clear how results from small-scale studies scale up to the city level. Researchers address this gap in the literature by estimating random-effects regression models of the effect of trees and other vegetation on total runoff and peak runoff for a summer (15–16 June 2010) and a winter (18–19 December 2010) storm in Portland, Oregon, U.S. Researchers found that additional tree canopy cover was associated with lower runoff in the summer storm, but the significance of the tree coefficient was sensitive to model structure. Researchers found that additional groundcover (grass and shrubs) associated with lower peak flow in the summer, and this result was robust to model structure. Neither trees nor groundcover were significantly associated with winter stormwater runoff. Results suggest that trees and other vegetation can be effective at moderating stormwater runoff. However, vegetation is not as effective in the winter, which is consistent with past modeling and experimental studies.

scholarly journals Are the effects of vegetation and soil changes as important as climate change impacts on hydrological processes?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kabir Rasouli ◽  
John W. Pomeroy ◽  
Paul H. Whitfield
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Vegetation Change ◽  
Annual Runoff ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Hydrological Processes ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change ◽  
Runoff Volume ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Soil Changes

Abstract. Hydrological processes are widely understood to be sensitive to changes in climate, but the effects of changes in vegetation and soils have seldom been considered. The response of mountain hydrology to future climate and vegetation/soil changes is modelled in three snowmelt dominated mountain basins in the North American Cordillera. A Cold Regions Hydrological Model developed for each basin was driven with perturbed observed meteorological time series. Monthly perturbations were developed from differences in eleven regional climate model outputs between the present and future scenarios. Future climate change in these basins results in decreased modelled peak snow water equivalent (SWE) but increased evapotranspiration in all basins. All three watersheds became more rainfall-dominated. In Wolf Creek in the Yukon Territory, an insignificant increasing effect of vegetation change on peak SWE was found to be important enough to offset the significant climate change effect on alpine snow. In Marmot Creek in the Canadian Rockies, a combined effect of soil and climate changes on increasing annual runoff becomes significant while their individual effects are not statistically significant. In the relatively warmer Reynolds Mountain East catchment in Idaho, USA, only vegetation change decreases annual runoff volume and changes in soil, climate, or combination of them do not affect runoff. At high elevations in Wolf and Marmot Creeks, modelled vegetation/soil changes moderated the impact of climate change on peak SWE, the timing of peak SWE, evapotranspiration, and annual runoff volume. At medium elevations, these changes intensified the impact of climate change, decreasing peak SWE, and sublimation. The modelled hydrological impacts of changes in climate, vegetation, and soil in mountain environments are similar in magnitude but not consistently in the direction in all biomes; in some combinations, this results in enhanced impacts at lower elevations and latitudes and offsetting effects at higher elevations and latitudes.

scholarly journals Modelling the impact of retention–detention units on sewer surcharge and peak and annual runoff reduction

2015 ◽  
Vol 71 (6) ◽  
pp. 898-903 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Locatelli ◽  
Søren Gabriel ◽  
Ole Mark ◽  
Peter Steen Mikkelsen ◽  
Karsten Arnbjerg-Nielsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Retention Volume ◽  
Stormwater Runoff ◽  
Annual Runoff ◽  
Reduction Peak ◽  
Peak Reduction ◽  
Small Catchment ◽  
Runoff Reduction ◽  
Impervious Area ◽  
Peak Runoff ◽  
The Impact

Stormwater management using water sensitive urban design is expected to be part of future drainage systems. This paper aims to model the combination of local retention units, such as soakaways, with subsurface detention units. Soakaways are employed to reduce (by storage and infiltration) peak and volume stormwater runoff; however, large retention volumes are required for a significant peak reduction. Peak runoff can therefore be handled by combining detention units with soakaways. This paper models the impact of retrofitting retention–detention units for an existing urbanized catchment in Denmark. The impact of retrofitting a retention–detention unit of 3.3 m3/100 m2 (volume/impervious area) was simulated for a small catchment in Copenhagen using MIKE URBAN. The retention–detention unit was shown to prevent flooding from the sewer for a 10-year rainfall event. Statistical analysis of continuous simulations covering 22 years showed that annual stormwater runoff was reduced by 68–87%, and that the retention volume was on average 53% full at the beginning of rain events. The effect of different retention–detention volume combinations was simulated, and results showed that allocating 20–40% of a soakaway volume to detention would significantly increase peak runoff reduction with a small reduction in the annual runoff.

scholarly journals Assessing City Greenness using Tree Canopy Cover: The Case of Yogyakarta, Indonesia

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-80
Author(s):  
Rendy Bayu Aditya ◽  
Muhammad Ulul Lizamun Ningam
Keyword(s):  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Urban Trees ◽  
Pollution Level ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Urban Greenery ◽  
Tree Canopy Cover ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Flooding Risk ◽  
Canopy Size

The study aims to measure the greenness of an Indonesia city using tree canopy cover data. Rapid physical development brings impacts to the loss of urban trees, which leads to the increase of flooding risk, local temperature and pollution level. To address the issues, a baseline assessment of urban tree canopy existence is necessary as inputs for effective urban environmental management policies. The methods used in this research include 1) remote sensing and spatial analysis, and 2) simple quantitative analysis. Furthermore, three indicators are used in assessing the greenness, including 1) size of the canopy, 2) canopy cover percentage, and 3) canopy per capita. The results found that the city of Yogyakarta has a low level of greenness based on the canopy size in which covers only 467.37 ha or 14.38% of the total area. The second finding is Yogyakarta has an unequal distribution of canopy cover percentage in each district (kecamatan). The third finding is Yogyakarta City has a canopy per capita rate of 10.93 sq m/person. This number is below the UN recommendation of 15sq m / person. It indicates that residents have poor access to urban greenery. Additionally, the article discusses that the three indicators used have strength and weakness in measuring the level of greenness. Therefore, the assessment objectives must be taken into account. We recommend the use of each indicator as follows: 1) the canopy size is used as an initial inventory of the existence and distribution of the canopy, 2) the canopy cover percentage canopy percentage for measuring and comparing the level of greenness spatially and visually between areas, 3) the canopy per capita is used to measure the possibility of access and interaction of residents with the presence of a tree canopy. Cities’ authority can use the information to measure the achievement of SDGs number 11, 13, or 15.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document