Scaling Up Climate Adaptation through Sustainable Urban Forestry

Abstract

Due to the intense and rapid onset of climate change, urban forests are suffering. City trees are experiencing extreme conditions, resulting in reduced lifespans and reduced ability to perform essential ecosystem functions within these city landscapes, where they are arguably needed the most. For trees to benefit the ecosystem the most, they need to be planted in the most suitable climate, which is shifting globally. Cities should begin planting more resilient species of trees now, based on how their climate is expected to shift. Our project team used existing information to create tools intended to help aid landscape architects in selecting the best species of tree to plant in their city, including Climate Change Scenario Maps, a Tree Species Frequency Distribution Table, and a website to host these tools, along with the Plant Your City Explorer, and other useful information. These tools were created with research into city trees and parsing which species are most commonly used in different subclimates. The climate categories are based on the Köppen Geiger Climate Classifications, which were also used to isolate and create the aforementioned maps. These tools are meant to be the first versions of more robust, detailed tools created over time as more information and resources become available to fill the needed gap of species selection tools at the global level. These tools are currently useful for helping to plant and prepare more resilient urban forests in the face of climate change.