Public attitudes about urban forest ecosystem services management: A case study in Oregon cities
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Outreach
Urban forest
Ecosystem Management
Urban ecosystem
Natural Resource Management
Urban Forestry
As human living environments face increasing challenges with resilience, the concept of nature-based solutions (NBS) was proposed in recent years as a way to promote sustainable living in urban environments. Urban forests and trees play important roles in urban ecosystems, while their potential as an NBS is promising. A bibliometric analysis was first conducted to explore the research pattern of NBS in urban environments. Studies of urban forest and tree-based green infrastructure in NBS research were further investigated using a systematic literature review method. The initial studies on NBS have increased since 2015 with 493 documents published from 142 sources in over 70 countries and regions. Keyword analysis showed green infrastructure had a rather high frequency of utility and received considerable attention. As for urban forests as nature-based solutions (UF-NBS) research, the most prominent study approaches used at different scales and the main benefits and typologies of urban forest studied in the articles were identified. UF-NBS research is still relatively scarce at present. Despite the role of urban forest and trees in addressing environmental challenges being well recognized, UF-NBS studies still need to be conducted in a more comprehensive context, taking social and economic aspects into account.
Urban Forestry
Urban forest
Urban ecosystem
Green infrastructure
Urban Resilience
Resilience
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In this study, we explored how visitation to urban green spaces relates to attitudes about urban forest ecosystem services among city residents. We used responses to a general population survey of urban residents in four Oregon, USA, cities to explore whether visits to urban and urbanproximate green spaces (such as parks and forest reserves) had a relationship to people's attitudes about urban forest ecosystem services. We also looked at a relationship between use frequency and familiarity with urban forest and ecosystem concepts. Results from our sample suggest that visitation frequency to urban green spaces has a positive relationship with attitudes about urban forest ecosystem services. We found that, in general, more frequent urban green space visitors had a greater familiarity with urban forest and ecosystem terms, and were more tolerant of problems (i.e., disservices) associated with urban trees and green space. Visitation frequency was less strongly associated with beliefs about threats to urban forests. Our results give some indication that urban natural resource management in Oregon could benefit by promoting urban natural area visits. Our data suggest that increasing visitation to urban parks, forest reserves, or other designated natural areas would likely coincide with greater public understanding and support for urban natural resource management. Among the strategies that may encourage more visitation, maintenance and general upkeep are very important. For example, infrequent visitors in our sample rated trash and litter accumulation and loitering as more substantial problems associated with urban forests and green spaces than more frequent visitors. Ensuring that potential users perceive a safe and inviting setting may increase visits. Most parks and recreation departments in the U.S. are facing shrinking budgets although volunteers can accomplish many basic maintenance and upkeep tasks. Partnering with community groups and local businesses will also provide outreach and engagement opportunities that can promote greater public support for park and recreation departments.
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Urban ecosystem
Urban Forestry
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As an emerging industrial sector, urban forestry can provide ecological security and multiple benefits for the city by building, managing and utilizing urban forest ecosystem. Urban forestry is the most effective field that can embody the characteristics of modern forestry and enhance the city’s overall competitiveness. Since the introduction of the urban forestry concept, through a series of theoretical studies and practices, the development of urban forestry in China has entered a new stage. Based on the national conditions of China, the base of urban forestry and its development status, we think that building highly efficient and rational urban forest system, creating high- quality urban forest communities and establishing a security system for the development of urban forestry are the key measures to further enhance the development level of urban forestry.
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This chapter focuses solely on measuring and monitoring urban trees, rather than all plant communities within the urban forest, and introduces the reader to the topic of urban forest assessment. It begins with a description of some variables measured during urban forest assessment and the tools and approaches used for this task. This is followed by a discussion of the different stakeholders who engage in urban forest assessment, including citizen volunteers, researchers, and governments. Forest mensuration is among the most fundamental disciplines in forestry and related sciences, including urban forestry. It focuses on the technical aspects of tree and forest measurement and monitoring. A more comprehensive set of variables is required to improve urban forest management. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service software i-Tree recommends collecting a set of variables that are critical for estimating environmental and economic ecosystem services.
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Recently, urban forests have drawn attention due to interest in the idea that urban forests provide essential ecosystem services. Indeed, urban forests provide the benefits of a natural, cost-effective system of green infrastructure. Trees capture air and water pollutants, as well as provide shade, habitat, and even social structure. These services have a surprising but significant economic value, and attention to the design of urban forests can be a local means of capturing that value. From an ecosystem services perspective, the urban forest also reveals that the very existence of nature in the urban area occurs as both a conceptual and a physical construct. That is, trees in the urban area result from intention and design. This article argues that urban forestry is a local opportunity to engage in an exercise of selfdetermination and local identity. Urban forestry requires an investigation into the ties between the community’s environmental, economic, and social needs, a realization of the potential of space and natural infrastructure, and a manipulation of the services provided by trees. Understanding the nature of urban forests as urban, contingent, and constructed empowers local governments to become ecosystem beneficiaries by effectively bringing nature into their communities. “Urban forests don’t get the recognition that natural forests do. They don’t encompass sweeping vistas and magnificent views, and they rarely provide critical habitat to endangered species. But they are vital.”
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Urban forests in urban environments are under pressure in Finland. The urban expansion causes a loss of urban forests. Urban forests have been increasingly studied, and their properties of improving e.g. air quality, noise reduction and recreational benefits have become more and more valued. In the case of Finland, the urban forests are often existing forests, which have become enveloped by growing amount of urban development.
The necessity of having urban forests in an urban environment has recently been justified with the growing adaptation of the ecosystem services. Ecosystem services can be described as benefits gained for human beings from ecosystems in general, combined with a more economical assessment. In regards to urban forests the ecosystem services include matters such as climate management, storm water management and recreation. Urban forests have also been studied as a way to complement traditional forestry. This new approach to forestry is called urban forestry, and it has been coined as a way to go about the growing urbanization and the ever more urban forest amenities. In urban forestry urban forests can serve other functions, not only production. These alternative functions can be of those of recreation etc.
This thesis studies three cases in northern Finland, in the city of Oulu. These cases are residential development areas that are different in size, but they share similarities such as housing type and location in the peripheries. It is the aim of this study to observe how urban forest amenities are treated in a planning stage. The availability of forest amenities in northern Finland is predictably high, but the treatment of urban forests is a feature that has not got much attention. The urban forests are studied in this thesis with an analysis of both their ecosystem service, and their landscape quality. Results from this study show that increasing attention has been paid to urban forests in Oulu. However the true potentials of the urban forests are not made use of in these three case studies.
In the concluding discussion, points in relation to urban forests will be made based on the study, and certain aspects for improvement are described. The understanding of urban forests and their amenities, in the case of Oulu, are explored. Differences between the case studies will be discussed and the cohesion and the need for urban forests are discussed.
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Urban Forestry
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Urban Forestry
Community forestry
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Urban forest
Urban Forestry
Urban ecosystem
Urban ecology
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Abstract Although the social, economic, and ecological benefits of urban forests have been well-documented, fewer efforts have been made to conduct landscape level assessments of urban forest canopy. This technical note describes how spatial analysis techniques were used to evaluate urban forest canopy cover in 133 municipal urban areas across Tennessee. Municipalities were compared based on participation in the Tree City USA program. Although urban forests vary greatly, results indicated that cities participating in this community forestry initiative exhibit higher levels of urban forest canopy cover. The integration of geographic information systems and remote sensing data presents new opportunities for community foresters to efficiently and effectively monitor urban ecosystems and formulate appropriate policy responses that can help to ensure forest sustainability across the urban–rural interface.
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Forest cover
Tree canopy
Urban Sustainability
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