Big old trees are the urban dweller's best friend

 


A large scale study in Brussels, Belgium found that preserving existing mature trees in urban areas provides greater benefits in terms of reducing air pollution and improving the quality of life for city residents than planting new trees. Using LIDAR, researchers were able to identify 616,379 trees for the entire region with data on the diameter the crowns, and the density of trunks in a given area.

The study then compared the benefits of tree cover to local sales of medicines. Where tree cover was high, medicine sales were low. So trees improved the health of urban residents, but not uniformly. The impact of trees on human health was much greater with old trees with large crowns than with a lot of young trees. The researchers concluded that preserving existing mature trees had a greater impact on carbon sequestration than planting new trees, due to the fact that mature trees sequester more carbon than young trees.

The article emphasizes the importance of considering the preservation of existing trees when planning urban development and highlights the need for policies and regulations that encourage the preservation of mature trees in urban areas. It also suggests that efforts to plant new trees should not be overlooked, but that a balance between preservation and new planting should be struck to ensure the greatest benefits for urban residents and the environment.

Postscript: Lidar stands for "Light Detection and Ranging" and it is a remote sensing technology that uses laser beams to measure distances and create high-resolution three-dimensional maps of landscapes and structures. Lidar works by emitting short pulses of laser light, which bounce back off the target and are detected by a sensor. By measuring the time it takes for the laser pulses to return, lidar can create highly accurate maps of the target area, including information about the shape, size, and elevation of the terrain or structures like buildings or trees.

ADDITIONAL READING ==> https://innovationorigins.com/en/selected/preserving-trees-in-urban-areas-is-better-than-planting-new-ones/ and https://persdienst.kuleuven.be/preserving-large-trees-in-urban-areas-makes-more-sense-than-planting-new-trees



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