84 Ponce-Donoso et al: Urban Trees and Environmental Variables Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 2020. 46(2):84–95 URBAN FORESTRY ARBORICULTURE Scientific Journal of the International Society of Arboriculture & Urban Trees and Environmental Variables: Relationships in a City of Central Chile By Mauricio Ponce-Donoso, Oscar Vallejos-Barra, Benjamin Ingram, and Gustavo Daniluk-Mosquera Abstract. We identified relationships between ecosystem services provided by trees and environmental variables, including temperature (°C at ground level and 1.5 m), relative humidity (%), particulate matter (PM10 , maximum and average), noise (dBA), and ultraviolet radiation (UV at 1.5 m). This study was carried out in Talca, Chile, a mid-sized city. Measurement locations were selected in three areas based along three main avenues in the center of the city during three different seasons and three different schedules of day, generating 15,515 data in total. In cir- cular plots, with 8 meter radiuses, measurements were recorded at the center and at a point on the perimeter. A correlation matrix was calculated and an ANOVA was conducted with canopy cover, schedule of day, and season as variation sources. The results show a high dispersion, and the correlation matrix that canopy coverage has a weak relationship with variables was studied. The results of the ANOVA showed the least number of significant differences associated with the canopy cover, schedule of day, and season, which showed significant differences for all variables. Tree coverage showed significant differences for all variables using the Tukey Test, with the exception of minimum noise. Plots with greater coverage were associated with increases in the particulate matter and relative humidity and decreases in maximum noise, temperature, and ultraviolet radiation. During mornings, the highest measurements of particulate matter, noise, and relative humidity were reported, whereas temperature maximums occurred at mid-day. The results confirm the importance of urban trees, specifically the canopy coverage, in mitigating negative environmental aspects in urban areas. Keywords. Ecosystems Services; Humidity; Noise; Solar Radiation; Temperature; Tree Canopy. INTRODUCTION As countries develop economically, the majority of the population becomes localized in urban areas. This is principally due to the availability of goods and ser- vices in these areas that provide a better quality of life (Escobedo et al. 2014). As well as this, population growth increases population density, and hence it is necessary to increase urbanization in terms of both urban expansion and reconstruction. As a result, cities are becoming complex systems of heterogeneous areas with interactions of economic, social, and eco- logical phenomena. These factors create a dynamic environment that presents challenges for decision makers who construct communal areas of coexis- tence where sustainable development is encouraged for the development of ecosystem functions and ser- vices. These functions and services are derived from chemical (Préndez et al. 2013), biological, and phys- ical processes (Posada et al. 2009) which are the ©2020 International Society of Arboriculture result of natural interactions between biotic and abi- otic components (De Groot et al. 2002) and provide explicit value or benefits to the well-being of human populations. In the context described above, trees and green areas in general appear to provide these functions and ecosystem services in cities (Nowak 2006; Hernán- dez 2008; Ponce-Donoso et al. 2012; Northrop et al. 2013; Haase et al. 2014; Hamstead et al. 2016; Russo et al. 2016; Ponce-Donoso et al. 2017; Calquín et al. 2019) by contributing to sustainability from eco- nomic, environmental, and social perspectives. At the same time, trees provide ecosystem functions and services that negatively impact the lives of citizens, also referred to as disservices (Lyytimäki and Sipilä 2009; Escobedo et al. 2011; Delshammar et al. 2015; Reyes et al. 2018; Speak et al. 2018), that include allergies, infrastructure destruction, and fallen fruits and leaves.
March 2020
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