Prospects and Perils for Urban Forestry and Ecosystem

Services: Applications and Research

J. Morgan Grove1, Austin Troy2, Matthew Wilson3

1Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service2Rubenstein School of the Environment and Natural

Resources, University of Vermont3School of Business and Administration and Gund Institute

for Ecological Economics, University of Vermont

Overview

• Prospects for Application of Ecosystem Services to Urban Forestry

• Perils for Ecosystem Services Research

• Improving Applications through Research

0

5,000

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25,000

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35,000

40,000

45,000

Parcel Public Right of Way

Possible

Existing

Not Useable

Acr

es

New Prospects: Urban Tree Canopy Goals and Private and Public

Lands in Urban Areas

Urban Tree Assessment, Baltimore City

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Urban Tree Canopy Goals and Private and Public Lands in Urban Areas

Urban Tree Assessment, Baltimore City

FOS Type

Wildlife

Habitat

Recreation

Forest

Produts

Safety

Cleanliness

Social

Capital

Aesthetics

Quality

Of Life

Property

Values

Energy

Savings

Carbon

Storage

Ozone

Air

Particulates

Storm

water

Drinking

Water

RegionalForestry

Stream Valleys &

Coastal Areas

Roads

Neighborhood Areas

Underutilized Industrial Areas

Large, Protected Areas

UTC / FOS Goal

No Effect

Low Effect

Medium Effect

High Effect

Urban Tree Canopy Goals:Linking Urban Forestry to Ecosystem

Services

Perils of Ecosystem Services Research

• Current focus of Ecosystem Services– Measuring stocks and fluxes of ecosystem services– Valuation and methods for valuation of ecosystem

services

• Geography of Analyses and Advances in Data

• Questions that are really, really hard:– Interactions among variables– Non-linearities and thresholds – Differences in preferences among social groups– Changes in preferences over time

Farber et al. 2006. “Linking Ecology and Economics forEcosystem Management.”Bioscience 56(2):117-129.

Geography of Ecosystem Services ecovalue.uvm.edu

$2,746,828 / year

Geography of Urban Forestry Applicationsand Advances in Data

FOS Type

Wildlife

Habitat

Recreation

Forest

Produts

Safety

Cleanliness

Social

Capital

Aesthetics

Quality

Of Life

Property

Values

Energy

Savings

Carbon

Storage

Ozone

Air

Particulates

Storm

water

Drinking

Water

RegionalForestry

Stream Valleys &

Coastal Areas

Roads

Neighborhood Areas

Underutilized Industrial Areas

Large, Protected Areas

UTC / FOS Goal

No Effect

Low Effect

Medium Effect

High Effect

Peril 1: Interactions Among Variables

Peril 1: Interaction Effects among Proximity to Parks, Safety, and Property

Values

Parcel Level Estimates of Ecosystem Services:

- Access to Parks, - Safety (Crime), and - Property Values

Peril 2: Non-linear Relationships and Spatial Configuration:

Tree Stocking Densities and Property Values

•The relationships among household property values and environmental amenities are not constant over space or among social groups,

•Tree canopy cover is valued highest in the urban core.

Peril 3: Differences Among Social Groups and Spatial Non-Stationarity

of Household Property Values and Environmental Amenities

American Dreams

Big City Blend

Blue Blood Estates

Blue-Chip Blues

Bohemian Mix

Fmaily Scramble

Gray Collars

Gray Power

Hometown Retired

Inner Cities

Mid-City Mix

Military Quarters

Mobility Blues

Money & Brains

New Beginnings

New Empty Nests

Old Yankee Rows

Pools & Patios

Single City Blues

Smalltown Downtown

Southside City

Suburban Sprawl

Towns & Gowns

Upstarts & Seniors

Urban Achievers

Urban Gold Coast

Winner's Circle

Young Influentials

Young Literati

Area of Residential Realized UTC by Block

Group

Peril 3: Differences Among Social Groups:

Realized UTC & Lifestyle

Extrusion Factor = 25

PRIZM 62 Lifestyle Classification

Money & Brains 47% more realized stewardship than Bohemian Mix

Bohemian Mix

Peril 4: Differences in Preferences for Ecosystem Services Over Time

• 1931: Living close to the workplace (TRI site) and industrial areas, and

• 2001: Living far away from TRI sites (workplace) and industrial areas

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2Miles

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#* Toxics Release Inventory Site

Zoned Industrial, 1931

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Brooklyn

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WestBaltimore

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1931: Living close to the workplace (TRI sites) and industrial areas

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Percent Black

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85.0-100.0

Half mile buffer from TRI site

#* Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) site

Interstate

2001: Living far away from TRI sites (workplace) and industrial areas

Conclusion

Areas of Focus to link Research to Application:

• Spatial and temporal resolution of data needed (scale of market transactions: parcel / annual)

• Types of data need to characterize and value ecosystem services over space, time, and for different social groups

• Models of ecosystem service change over space and time due to ecological and social dynamics

• Link ecosystem services assessments to urban forestry interventions and monitoring and evaluation

AbstractProspects and Perils for Urban Forestry and Ecosystem Services: Application and Research

Ecosystem Goods and Services are the benefits people obtain either directly or indirectly from functioning ecological systems. Assessment of Ecosystem Services focuses principally on three issues: measurements of ecological functions, estimates of values for specific ecological functions, and the spatially explicit transfer of valuation estimates from study sites to policy sites. An Ecosystem Service approach has been proposed as a compelling framework for natural resource management because it provides a framework for assessing diverse tradeoffs (Farber et al. 2006). In the case of urban forestry research and applications, however, important issues need to be addressed before an Ecosystem Service approach will be useful in general.

In this presentation we discuss some of the perils and prospects for adopting an ecosystem service approach with examples from Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) research and Revitalizing Baltimore (RB) applications. These issues include the following questions. Do the measurements of ecological processes and valuation of those processes correspond to the resolution at which urban forestry occurs? Do our valuation estimates account for interactions among social and biophysical processes? Are existing valuation estimates related to urban forest ecosystem services similar enough in context to be transferred to Baltimore? Do our estimates of ecosystem service values depend upon linear relationships or constant variation over space? We conclude with a discussion of the challenges and limitations to value transfer approaches as well as future opportunities in making this analysis spatially and contextually specific.

Support for this research comes from the Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service and NSF DEB Grant # 0423476

Citation: Troy, A, Grove, J.M., and Wilson, M. 2006. Prospects and Perils for Urban Forestry and Ecosystem Services: Application and Research. 12th International Symposium on Society and Resource Management. Vancouver, British Columbia. June 3rd – 8th, 2006. Published Abstract.