Praise for diversity: A functional approach to reduce risks in urban forests

Paquette, Alain; Sousa-Silva, Rita; Maure, Fanny; Cameron, Elyssa; Belluau, Michaël; Messier, Christian

doi:10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127157

Cited by 46 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Plant functional traits, defined as measurable species characteristics that reflect the responses and adaptations of plants to the environment (Violle et al, 2007), can be used to pool species together into ecologically meaningful groups. It is assumed that different species with similar functional traits respond similarly to the environment and, therefore, that using species from different functional groups provides the best insurance to maintain and enhance the benefits of trees into the future (Paquette et al, 2021). For this study, the tree species found in the City of Joliette's tree species inventory were divided into five functional groups, defined by functional traits that reflect the ecological strategies of species to cope with stressful conditions, and according to a method developed by our group previously (Paquette et al, 2021).…”

Section: Tree Functional Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is assumed that different species with similar functional traits respond similarly to the environment and, therefore, that using species from different functional groups provides the best insurance to maintain and enhance the benefits of trees into the future (Paquette et al, 2021). For this study, the tree species found in the City of Joliette's tree species inventory were divided into five functional groups, defined by functional traits that reflect the ecological strategies of species to cope with stressful conditions, and according to a method developed by our group previously (Paquette et al, 2021). Functional diversity was estimated as the effective number of functional groups, or Hill numbers, using the exponential of Shannon's diversity index.…”

Section: Tree Functional Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The lower the effective number of functional groups in each street segment, the higher the chance that disturbances will impair ecosystem functioning and consequently, the greater the priority of the location for tree planting. Although the dataset used in Paquette et al (2021) has been expanded and updated to include new species (Belluau et al, 2021), we realize this information may be difficult to obtain or otherwise unavailable in some regions. In these cases, a more simple index, such as the Hill numbers estimation of species richness, could be used instead.…”

Section: Tree Functional Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, though criteria for determining where to plant and maintain trees can be changed as necessary to ensure that local urban tree canopy goals are met, we strongly suggest that diversity always be kept given its direct links to the benefits and uses of urban forests and trees. While no species recommendations are made, what is important is that a diversity of tree species is planted to build resilience against new pests and diseases, and climate change (Paquette et al, 2021). Thirdly, this approach can be applied at the city, neighborhood or street scale to guide targeted tree plantings, in areas where there is a need.…”

Section: Strengths Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prioritizing Street Tree Planting Locations to Increase Benefits for All Citizens: Experience From Joliette, Canada

2021

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As the climate continues to warm and the world becomes more urbanized, our reliance on trees and the benefits they provide is rapidly increasing. Many cities worldwide are planting trees to offset rising temperatures, trap pollutants, and enhance environmental and human health and well-being. To maximize the benefits of planting trees and avoid further increasing social inequities, a city needs to prioritize where to establish trees by first identifying those areas of greatest need. This work aims to demonstrate a spatially explicit approach for cities to determine these priority locations to achieve the greatest returns on specific benefits. Criteria for prioritization were developed in tandem with the City of Joliette, Canada, and based on nine indicators: surface temperature, tree density, vegetation cover, resilience, tree size and age, presence of species at risk, land use type, socioeconomic deprivation, and potential for active transportation. The City’s preferences were taken into account when assigning different weights to each indicator. The resulting tree planting priority maps can be used to target street tree plantings to locations where trees are needed most. This approach can be readily applied to other cities as these criteria can be adjusted to accommodate specific tree canopy goals and planning constraints. As cities are looking to expand tree canopy, we hope this work will assist in sustaining and growing their urban forest, enabling it to be more resilient and to keep providing multiple and sustained benefits where they are needed the most.

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Section: Tree Functional Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Tree Functional Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Tree Functional Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Strengths Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Prioritizing Street Tree Planting Locations to Increase Benefits for All Citizens: Experience From Joliette, Canada

2021

Self Cite

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“…Diversity related to tree age class and typical species longevity can help stagger maintenance and removal demands placed on a community and ensure large swathes of urban forest do not decline at the same time. Additionally, there are recent efforts to bring the concept of functional diversity from traditional forest ecology into urban forest management (Núñez-Florez et al, 2019;Paquette et al, 2021). Maintaining functional diversity can increase the range of ecological services urban vegetation provides within the surrounding landscape.…”

Section: Establishment Trialmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Aligning urban forest management actions with urban sustainability goals: A multi‐city expert elicitation

Bassett,

Day,

Konijnendijk

et al. 2024

Ecosphere

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City leaders are setting ambitious plans to achieve critical urban sustainability goals such as reducing urban heat, mitigating flooding during storms, and conserving biodiversity, and increasingly rely on urban forests as a key nature‐based solution to such challenges. Current paradigms of urban forest management typically prioritize goals like increasing tree canopy cover that are often viewed as proxies for increased ecosystem service provision, in a general sense. However, urban foresters, the professionals with responsibility to manage urban forests, are increasingly faced with the complex challenge of managing for new goals related to ecosystem services, biodiversity, or people–nature relationships, as cities increasingly set goals centered on such outcomes, without robust guidelines to follow. We ask: How can urban foresters align their street tree management actions with specific urban sustainability goals? We conducted a structured expert elicitation of urban forest professionals in three cities: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, United States; and Washington, DC, United States. A socio‐ecological lens was used to examine urban foresters as agents of change in urban ecosystems. Participants assessed the impacts of 40 direct management actions on five goals: (1) canopy cover increase and tree risk reduction, (2) urban heat reduction, (3) people–nature relationships, (4) wildlife habitat, and (5) stormwater interception and infiltration. While certain actions (e.g., in the mature tree maintenance phase) were selected as needed to advance every goal, experts identified numerous actions which aligned with one or several goals, but not all. Preplanting actions, specifically site selection and species selection, presented the greatest opportunities to advance specific goals, suggesting that aligning this phase with city sustainability goals is critical. Participants were highly confident in being able to advance all goals through street tree management, but were more confident in being able to advance the goals of increasing canopy cover while reducing tree risk and of mitigating urban heat, possibly because these goals more closely align with traditional canopy cover goal setting. This research underscores the necessity of considering site‐level ecosystem management actions to advance strategic sustainability goals, while also revealing the complexity of the role and responsibilities of professionals who manage urban ecosystems.

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Praise for diversity: A functional approach to reduce risks in urban forests

Cited by 46 publications

References 39 publications

Prioritizing Street Tree Planting Locations to Increase Benefits for All Citizens: Experience From Joliette, Canada

Prioritizing Street Tree Planting Locations to Increase Benefits for All Citizens: Experience From Joliette, Canada

Table_1.XLSX

Aligning urban forest management actions with urban sustainability goals: A multi‐city expert elicitation

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