Addressing uncertainty to improve urban tree management

Summary Description:

Eighty-percent of the UK population live in towns and cities. Urban trees provide numerous benefits to urban society, including air pollution removal, building energy conservation, urban climate regulation, and access to nature. Urban tree managers and government agencies are interested in assessing the magnitude and socially equitable distribution of urban tree benefit delivery, and building resilience under a changing climate. However, a national picture of urban forest cover, composition and quality does not exist. At the city scale, such information is occasionally available through local uptake of “i-Tree” tools.

This project aims to critically examine urban forest sampling protocols with a view to optimising i-Tree Eco surveying. By clarifying the surveying effort required and maximising output accuracy the project aims to increase the opportunity for cities to gain the inventory data required for evidence-based policy creation, and development of management strategies that maximise delivery of tree benefits to urban society.