Exploring Portland during a weekend trip, we came across these tree "price tags" along the South Park Blocks near PSU. A phenomenal public outreach campaign, they also reminded us of the multiple benefits of the urban forest that continue to be uncovered by researchers.
For example, DesignBuild Source reminds us about the importance of software like i-Tree in quantifying the value of our urban forest canopy (and perhaps more importantly, provides the nifty graphic below). It also suggests that Portland may have been low-balling their trees' value.
ACTrees runs down the latest research about how the urban forest affects carbon storage and sequestration, which refines previous research papers. The research found:
Total tree carbon storage in U.S. urban areas (c. 2005) is estimated at 643 million tonnes ($50.5 billion value; 95% CI = 597 million and 690 million tonnes) and annual sequestration is estimated at 25.6 million tonnes ($2.0 billion value; 95% CI = 23.7 million to 27.4 million tonnes).
Download the full research paper here.
"Perhaps we should start thinking of trees as part of our public-health infrastructure," says this fascinating article from Scientific American about how the presence of trees in your neighborhood serves as a predictor of your public health. Studying an area of Michigan where there was a large die off of trees due to the emerald ash borer, the researchers found:
"According to their mathematical model, the presence of the borer, and the subsequent loss of trees, was associated with 6.8 additional deaths per year from respiratory causes and 16.7 additional deaths per year from cardiovascular causes per 100,000 adults. That's more than 21,000 deaths in total."
Fast Company brings us the story of South African photographer Dillon Marsh who studies the "peculiar nature" of cell phone towers dotting the urban landscape, disguised as trees. Some examples of his work is below but be sure to also check out his website.
Interested in learning more about value of trees and green infrastructure in the urban environment? APA has a new publication, Green Infrastructure: A Landscape Approach, that gives all of the latest, greatest research. ASLA interviews the author.