TY - JOUR
T1 - More than green
T2 - Tree structure and biodiversity patterns differ across canopy change regimes in Baltimore's urban forest
AU - Anderson, Elsa C.
AU - Avolio, Meghan L.
AU - Sonti, Nancy F.
AU - LaDeau, Shannon L.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by funding from the NSF Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) Program . This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. DEB-1637661 and DEB-1855277 . Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors
PY - 2021/11
Y1 - 2021/11
N2 - Urban tree canopy is a vital component of modern cities, and many cities aspire to increase canopy cover to bolster ecosystem services. However, canopy-based ecosystem services are disproportionately provided by old, large-statured trees. Legacies of where trees have been maintained are evident in urban landscapes and loss of these older trees is not easily negated by current planting efforts. Furthermore, tree species composition varies considerably across the landscape and may determine present canopy longevity, structure, and contribution to ecosystem amenities or disamenities. In this study, we leverage long-term data from 188 i-Tree Eco plots in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, to examine how canopy changes across 10 years are related to tree structure and biodiversity patterns. We delineated five distinct clusters based on starting canopy conditions (high or low) and the trajectory of canopy change (gain or loss) and compared how tree structure, community composition, and turnover varied among clusters and across time. We found distinct patterns of tree structure and biodiversity across clusters that can help clarify links between land use, community composition, and ecosystem function in the urban forest. Residential land use typically had fewer and larger trees than forests or parks and residential clusters supported high biodiversity. Regardless of land use, areas with increasing canopy were dominated by native species while areas experiencing canopy declines were dominated by non-native species. In all, these findings help untangle the complexities of urban forest change and clarify different canopy vulnerabilities and assets across an urban landscape.
AB - Urban tree canopy is a vital component of modern cities, and many cities aspire to increase canopy cover to bolster ecosystem services. However, canopy-based ecosystem services are disproportionately provided by old, large-statured trees. Legacies of where trees have been maintained are evident in urban landscapes and loss of these older trees is not easily negated by current planting efforts. Furthermore, tree species composition varies considerably across the landscape and may determine present canopy longevity, structure, and contribution to ecosystem amenities or disamenities. In this study, we leverage long-term data from 188 i-Tree Eco plots in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, to examine how canopy changes across 10 years are related to tree structure and biodiversity patterns. We delineated five distinct clusters based on starting canopy conditions (high or low) and the trajectory of canopy change (gain or loss) and compared how tree structure, community composition, and turnover varied among clusters and across time. We found distinct patterns of tree structure and biodiversity across clusters that can help clarify links between land use, community composition, and ecosystem function in the urban forest. Residential land use typically had fewer and larger trees than forests or parks and residential clusters supported high biodiversity. Regardless of land use, areas with increasing canopy were dominated by native species while areas experiencing canopy declines were dominated by non-native species. In all, these findings help untangle the complexities of urban forest change and clarify different canopy vulnerabilities and assets across an urban landscape.
KW - Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES)
KW - Hierarchical clustering
KW - i-Tree Eco
KW - Land use
KW - Long term ecological research (LTER)
KW - Urban canopy change
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127365
DO - 10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127365
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85118505636
SN - 1618-8667
VL - 65
JO - Urban Forestry and Urban Greening
JF - Urban Forestry and Urban Greening
M1 - 127365
ER -