Skip to main content

Popular Searches

Climate change Oak Processionary Moth TreeAlert National Forest Inventory Acute Oak Decline
Home / Research / i-Tree Eco / i-Tree Eco Projects
Back to i-Tree Eco Projects
Ecosystem services Urban trees and greenspaces

About the Southampton i-Tree Eco Study

The city of Southampton has one of the fastest growing populations in the UK – this places pressure on Southampton’s urban trees and increasing demand for the social and environmental benefits they provide.

In order to better understand Southampton’s urban trees, an i-Tree Eco survey was undertaken in the summer of 2016. This survey was completed by students from the University of Southampton.

The ecosystem services provided by Southampton’s urban trees considered were carbon capture, rainwater interception, and the removal of air pollution.

The CAVAT replacement value of the trees and the role of Southampton’s trees and shrubs in providing habitat for insects were also determined.

This project was a partnership between Southampton City Council, University of Southampton, Treeconomics, and Forest Research. This work was funded by the University of Southampton and Southampton City Council.

Research objectives

This research aimed to:

  • Demonstrate the value that urban trees provide to all who live in, work in and visit the city of Southampton
  • Understand the structure of Southampton’s urban forest, including the species composition, diversity and tree condition
  • Calculate the ecosystem services provided by Southampton’s urban forest and rank the importance of different tree species

Findings and Recommendations

  • Carbon capture, rainwater interception, and removal of air pollution by Southampton’s trees were valued at £1.29 million per year.
  • The diversity of tree species in Southampton is generally good, although improving diversity would improve resilience to pest and disease outbreaks.
  • The benefits provided by Southampton’s trees contribute to the delivery of local and national policies, including climate change adaptation, and improvements in air quality and the well-being of the people of Southampton.
  • This study provides new evidence to support and deliver Southampton’s agenda to develop a sustainable and liveable city using green infrastructure, as proposed in policies including the Southampton Council Strategy (2016-2020), City Centre Action Plan (2015), Southampton Local Flood Risk Management Strategy (2014-2019) and Low Carbon City Strategy (2011-2020).

For further details and results see the Full Report and Summaries in the Documents’ section on this page (below).

Contact

Kieron Doick

Downloads

Forestry publication document

i-Tree Eco Southampton Two Page Summary
PDF, 2.88 MB

Forestry publication document

i-Tree Eco Southampton Four Page Summary Report
PDF, 0.54 MB

Forestry publication document

i-Tree Eco Southampton Full Report
PDF, 2.77 MB

Funding & partners
  • University of Southampton
  • Southampton City Council
  • Treeconomics
  • Forest Research
i-Tree Eco
In this section
i-Tree Eco

Related content

Research

i-Tree Eco

Bringing a fully functioning i-Tree Eco to the UK to support the quantification, valuation and resource management of urban trees, greenspaces and forests.

Status current
Themes
Ecosystem services, Urban trees and greenspaces