Susceptibility assessment of urban tree species in Cambridge, MA, from future climatic extremes

Abstract

The City of Cambridge, Massachusetts, recognizes the value of the city's urban forest in terms of air quality, lower wind speeds, esthetics, energy conservation, reduced noise pollution, habitat value, decreased runoff, and bolstering of local businesses and property values. The density, composition, and location of street and city park trees comprising the urban forest will be influenced by future climate-driven extreme weather events. In this study, we have developed an approach for assessing impacts of multiple extreme weather scenarios likely to become more frequent under climate change and subsequently influence the composition of street and park trees. This potential for loss of trees as a result of one (or more) of these climaterelated extreme weather events is considered to be one indicator of the susceptibility of Cambridge's urban forest to climate-related weather events. The scenarios considered were a hurricane/tropical storm similar to tropical storm Sandy in 2012, heat stress, snow or ice loading (e.g., loss of tree limbs), Asian longhorn beetle or emerald ash borer infestations, and the cumulative effect from the addition of all these scenarios. The literature was used to assess the sensitivity of tree species to each threat and determine the anticipated loss of individuals from each species. The results are a reasonable indication of the more tolerant tree species in Cambridge and their locations. This assessment of susceptibility can inform proactive management of the urban forest.

Trophic structure in a rapidly urbanizing planet

“…It is therefore not surprising that herbivory has been widely studied in urban ecosystems (Raupp et al, 2010). Herbivory in urban environments can be influenced by changes in bottom-up or top-down factors (Burkman & Gardiner, 2014;Dale & Frank, 2014;Foran, Baker, Narcisi, & Linkov, 2015) ( Figure 1; Table 1). It can also vary among taxon and cities, but its impact is generally difficult to predict (Raupp et al, 2010), even in the same city (Bang, Faeth, & Sabo, 2012;Faeth et al, 2005).…”

“…. (2012),Dale and Frank (2014),Foran et al (2015), andTurrini et al (2016) Water availabilityBang et al (2012) andDavis et al (2015) Nutrients (pollution, producer quality)Davis et al (2015) andTurrini et al (2016) Primary producer responses (biomass, production, phenology, performance or recruitment)Bang et al (2012),Davis et al (2015),DaVanon et al (2016), and Turrini et al…”

Decreased losses of woody plant foliage to insects in large urban areas are explained by bird predation

“…Urban environments are generally stressful for plants (Calfapietra, Peñuelas, & Niinemets, 2015;Raupp et al, 2010), although tree species greatly differ in their sensitivity to all environmental stressors associated with urban habitats (Foran, Baker, Narcisi, & Linkov, 2015;Gillner, Brauning, & Roloff, 2014). Boring, sucking and leafmining insects usually perform better on moderately stressed plants, whereas gall-forming and defoliating insects are adversely affected by plant stress (Koricheva, Larsson, & Haukioja, 1998;Larsson, 1989); consequently, the impacts of urbanization on herbivory may vary between tree species and insect feeding guilds.…”

Winning the SDG battle in cities: how an integrated information ecosystem can contribute to the achievement of the 2030 sustainable development goals

“…Laanela, ). The importance of urban forests has led researchers to develop measures and models to help city managers determine the susceptibility of their urban forests to extreme events, pests and other stressors (Foran et al, ). Although various models have been developed to define quality of urban green space, there is not one unified understanding of what this means (Lindholst et al, ).…”