Does urban vegetation mitigate air pollution in northern conditions?

Setälä, Heikki; Viippola, Viljami; Rantalainen, Anna‐Lea; Pennanen, Arto; Yli‐Pelkonen, Vesa

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2012.11.010

Cited by 187 publications

(101 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…However, most PM is resuspended to the atmosphere, washed off by rain, or dropped to the ground (100). Empirical studies (e.g., 34,113) and modeling studies (e.g., 103, 120) suggest that urban tree canopy generally reduces air pollution levels by no more than a few percentage points, and often far less, although some results suggest more efficient removal of PM (59,63) and certain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) (70). Because trees may reduce air movement, especially in restricted spaces such as urban "canyons," they may impede the localized dispersion of pollutants.…”

Section: Air Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature and Health

Hartig

Mitchell

Vries

et al. 2014

Annu. Rev. Public Health

2,609

1,803

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Urbanization, resource exploitation, and lifestyle changes have diminished possibilities for human contact with nature in many societies. Concern about the loss has helped motivate research on the health benefits of contact with nature. Reviewing that research here, we focus on nature as represented by aspects of the physical environment relevant to planning, design, and policy measures that serve broad segments of urbanized societies. We discuss difficulties in defining "nature" and reasons for the current expansion of the research field, and we assess available reviews. We then consider research on pathways between nature and health involving air quality, physical activity, social cohesion, and stress reduction. Finally, we discuss methodological issues and priorities for future research. The extant research does describe an array of benefits of contact with nature, and evidence regarding some benefits is strong; however, some findings indicate caution is needed in applying beliefs about those benefits, and substantial gaps in knowledge remain.

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Section: Air Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature and Health

Hartig

Mitchell

Vries

et al. 2014

Annu. Rev. Public Health

2,609

1,803

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Thus far, most studies on PM 10 and O 3 removal across Europe have been focused on urban areas [8,[33][34][35], or at least in metropolitan context [9,24], but few studies have been conducted at the regional level [36,37]. Moreover, to effectively enable the usage of information in maps by stakeholders, the scale at which ES are assessed should follow the administrative levels (municipality, metropolitan cities, regional level).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping and Assessment of PM10 and O3 Removal by Woody Vegetation at Urban and Regional Level

et al. 2017

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This study is the follow up of the URBAN-MAES pilot implemented in the framework of the EnRoute project. The study aims at mapping and assessing the process of particulate matter (PM 10 ) and tropospheric ozone (O 3 ) removal by various forest and shrub ecosystems. Different policy levels and environmental contexts were considered, namely the Metropolitan city of Rome and, at a wider level, the Latium region. The approach involves characterization of the main land cover and ecosystems using Sentinel-2 images, enabling a detailed assessment of Ecosystem Service (ES), and monetary valuation based on externality values. The results showed spatial variations in the pattern of PM 10 and O 3 removal inside the Municipality and in the more rural Latium hinterland, reflecting the spatial dynamics of the two pollutants. Evergreen species displayed higher PM 10 removal efficiency, whereas deciduous species showed higher O 3 absorption in both rural and urban areas. The overall pollution removal accounted for 5123 and 19,074 Mg of PM 10 and O 3 , respectively, with a relative monetary benefit of 161 and 149 Million Euro for PM 10 and O 3 , respectively. Our results provide spatially explicit evidence that may assist policymakers in land-oriented decisions towards improving Green Infrastructure and maximizing ES provision at different governance levels.

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“…Though the model outputs match well with field measured deposition velocities for urban forests, the model analyzes average effects across a city, not local variations in removal caused by local meteorological and pollution differences. However, these local fine-scale input data are often missing from urban areas and empirical data on the actual uptake of pollutants by urban vegetation are still limited (Pataki et al 2011;Setälä et al 2013), which makes a more accurate modeling of this ecosystem service unfeasible at the moment. For a sensitivity analysis of the i-Tree Eco deposition model see Hirabayashi et al (2011).…”

Section: Limitations and Caveatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contribution of Ecosystem Services to Air Quality and Climate Change Mitigation Policies: The Case of Urban Forests in Barcelona, Spain

2016

Urban Forests

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Mounting research highlights the contribution of ecosystem services provided by urban forests to quality of life in cities, yet these services are rarely explicitly considered in environmental policy targets. We quantify regulating services provided by urban forests and evaluate their contribution to comply with policy targets of air quality and climate change mitigation in the municipality of Barcelona, Spain. We apply the i-Tree Eco model to quantify in biophysical and monetary terms the ecosystem services ''air purification,'' ''global climate regulation,'' and the ecosystem disservice ''air pollution'' associated with biogenic emissions. Our results show that the contribution of urban forests regulating services to abate pollution is substantial in absolute terms, yet modest when compared to overall city levels of air pollution and GHG emissions. We conclude that in order to be effective, green infrastructure-based efforts to offset urban pollution at the municipal level have to be coordinated with territorial policies at broader spatial scales.

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Does urban vegetation mitigate air pollution in northern conditions?

Cited by 187 publications

References 52 publications

Nature and Health

Nature and Health

Mapping and Assessment of PM10 and O3 Removal by Woody Vegetation at Urban and Regional Level

Contribution of Ecosystem Services to Air Quality and Climate Change Mitigation Policies: The Case of Urban Forests in Barcelona, Spain

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