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Summary

We are undertaking work to assist the development of the i-Tree suite of tools for use in the UK and strengthen i-Tree science for the UK climate.

Status

This project is ongoing.

Research objectives

Forest Research is:

  • investigating the growth rates of numerous tree species commonly found in the UK urban environment and developing the allometric and biomass quantification equations required within i-Tree
  • studying the variance in leaf area estimation using hemispherical photography
  • expanding the tree and shrub species database to reflect missing species and species attributes
  • updating the weather and pollution databases with UK data for all available monitoring sites.

Contact

Kieron Doick

Related resources

Arboricultural Association

Treeconomics

Treezilla

Forestry Commission Policy

Climate change represents a significant threat to urban infrastructure, environmental quality and the health of city dwellers. Green infrastructure is itself at risk through greater extremes in temperature fluctuation, consequent flourishing of tree pests and diseases, drought and perceived increased risk of subsidence leading to tree removal.

There is no clear system for determining the biophysical interactions, benefits, or managing potential trade-offs within a risk-benefit context, to optimally support the protection and sustainable regeneration of UK towns and cities. The Urban Trees and Greenspace in a Changing Climate Programme intends to develop such a system through consolidating and building upon existing work to provide the evidence base for urban trees, definition and communication of best practice guidance, and robust assessment, evaluation and dissemination tools so that the risks and benefits of urban tree placement can be more fully assessed by society, policymakers and planners.

The Programme also maintains the centre of excellence which FR has developed over several decades on land regeneration practices to establish and maintain urban greenspaces on former brownfield and contaminated sites.

Funding & partners
  • forestry commission 1Forestry Commission

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