Estimating the Ecosystem Benefits of Urban Forestry

National Academy Of Sciences, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

It has long been recognized that increasing the tree canopy in an urban area can provide a variety of benefits to the environment and to people. Our ability to quantify these benefits is improving, due to new scientific research, modeling tools, and advances mapping and monitoring technologies. But many uncertainties and challenges remain in developing rigorous and widely accepted methods for estimating such benefits. The National Academy of Sciences will organize a workshop to examine current capabilities to characterize and quantify the benefits (that is, ecosystem services) provided by trees and forest canopy cover within a metropolitan area, including air pollution mitigation, water pollution mitigation, carbon sequestration, urban heat island mitigation, reduced energy demand from shading of buildings, possibly also including the direct benefits to public health and well-being. Some related discussion topics may include gaps in understanding and ability to model, measure and monitor such services; current capabilities for assigning quantitative economic value to these services; strategies to sustain long-term canopy cover in a way that maximizes benefits and minimizes costs and potential ?dis-benefits (for example, increased pollen load, risk of fire and storm damages, water requirements); and opportunities for enhancing coordination among federal agencies, academic researchers, and other stakeholders working on all these issues. The workshop will be organized by a planning group with expertise in a range of relevant disciplines. It will include a mix of plenary presentations, panel discussion sessions and small breakout sessions, to encourage debate and interaction among all participants. A summary report will be made freely available through the National Academy Press website, and dissemination activities will be conducted to ensure that the results are widely distributed. It is expected that these discussions will help shape the future research agenda among numerous parties working on this topic, such as researchers within the Forest Service, Environmental Protection Agency, National Park Service, NASA remote sensing programs, Center for Disease Control public health programs, Department of Energy energy efficiency programs, state and local forestry and land management organizations, as well as non-governmental organizations and academic researchers. The workshop may also help inform decisions that are currently being made by municipal leaders weighing investments in expanding urban tree canopies based on the benefits they will provide, and by state and regional officials attempting to include tree planting as an official measure in air quality and water quality control and climate change action plans. This workshop will provide a neutral forum for convening a wide diversity of relevant stakeholders for sharing of information and perspectives. It will also provide an opportunity for communication across different realms of research that traditionally focus on just one type of ecosystem service (such as forest impacts on air pollution, water pollution, or carbon uptake) encouraging more integrated approaches that cut across different realms.