Published in Environmental Research: Ecology
As projections of exponential urbanization persist, promoting the health of urban populations is one of the most urgent and challenging issues of the 21st century. By taking a planetary health approach and considering the reciprocal relationship between human health and the health of ecosystems, the integration of nature-based solutions into cities...
Trees can be planted adjacent to stormwater infiltration systems to improve runoff retention and tree health and growth. Both runoff retention and healthy tree growth depend on the balance between designing a large volume of water storage in the infiltration systems adjacent to trees, while not creating anoxic, saturated soil water conditions for e...
Published in Ecology
Humans promote and inhibit other species on the urban landscape, shaping biodiversity patterns. Institutional racism may underlie the distribution of urban species by creating disproportionate resources in space and time. Here, we examine whether present-day street tree occupancy, diversity, and composition in Baltimore, MD, USA, neighborhoods refl...
Street trees are crucial for air pollutant reduction in urban areas. Herein, we used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation to identify changes in airborne particulate matter (PM2.5) concentration based on wind characteristics (direction and velocity) and the green network of street trees. The green network was assessed based on composition ...
Published in Frontiers in Environmental Science
Urban trees provide multiple ecosystem services (ES) to city residents and are used as environmentally friendly solutions to ameliorate problems in cities worldwide. Effective urban forestry management is essential for enhancing ES, but challenging to develop in densely populated cities where tradeoffs between high ES provision and issues of period...
Published in IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science
Urban grey infrastructure, as it generally consists of monofunctional, sealed, impervious, heating up and reflecting surfaces, has led to a series of serious challenges (urban heat stresses, loss of biodiversity, flood risks and natural hazards) decreasing urban resilience. Ongoing construction activities result in irreversible soil consumption and...
The design of green infrastructure in urban renewal sites is complex, requiring engagement with existing communities and future sustainable development goals, consideration of existing and future urban forms, changing climatic conditions, and the sites often being in low-lying and flood-prone areas. Traditional street tree decision-making approache...
Urban greenspace provides opportunities for outdoor exercise and may increase physical activity, with accompanying health benefits. Areas suitable for walking (walkability) are also associated with increased physical activity, but interactions with greenspace are poorly understood. We investigated associations of walkability and green walkability w...
The climate, soil properties, groundwater depth, and surrounding settings in cities vary to a tremendous extent, which all lead to different growing conditions and health for street trees. Because of climate change, the availability of water in cities will undergo changes in the next decades. As urban trees have a very positive influence not only o...
Published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
Municipal leaders around the world are demonstrating significant interest in urban greening to realize a range of socioecological benefits. The urban greening toolkit often includes street trees, an essential component of urban design informed by historic legacies of both human and environmental factors. To date, there has been little comparative a...
