{"title":"Global approaches for ecological restoration in urban environments: A PRISMA review","authors":"Isabella Aparecida Fonseca Bertoleti , Maurício Lamano Ferreira , Eduardo Pereira Cabral Gomes , Elaine Aparecida Rodrigues , Catarina Carvalho Nievola","doi":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128673","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128673","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Since the Industrial Revolution, global urbanization has expanded rapidly, leading to serious implications for human well-being and biodiversity. The rapid construction of cities has resulted in significant habitat loss, especially in the context of anticipated climate changes. Identifying trends in forest restoration in urban areas can contribute to implementing adaptive and mitigating measures that support future public policies. Using the PRISMA method, this study aimed to identify scientific articles describing restoration approaches in urban forests, focusing on trends that facilitate model development in urban regions facing rising temperatures and droughts. Our results show that, despite convergence favoring ecological restoration in urban areas, the scientific knowledge supporting model development is still in progress. Most reviewed articles focused on countries with temperate forests, while none addressed the tropics. Our results highlight that restoration requires a strategic approach, prioritizing native species and combining local knowledge with scientific expertise. Community involvement and continuous monitoring are crucial to maintaining ecological functions and adapting to rapid climate-related changes occurring globally, especially in the tropical zone. We also emphasize that forest restoration strategies in cities should be incorporated into long-term urban policies and not remain solely within the scope of compensatory actions. This work highlights a gap in forest restoration in urban areas and highlights the importance of countries in tropical regions developing more research with these approaches.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49394,"journal":{"name":"Urban Forestry & Urban Greening","volume":"104 ","pages":"Article 128673"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142989050","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sonja A. Wilhelm Stanis, Emily Piontek, Shuangyu Xu
{"title":"Perceptions of ecosystem services and disservices in urban greenspaces: Insights from a shrinking city","authors":"Sonja A. Wilhelm Stanis, Emily Piontek, Shuangyu Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128675","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128675","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Urban greenspaces contribute to the social and ecological functioning of cities through ecosystem services (ES) but are also associated with ecosystem disservices (EDS), such as allergens and nuisance animals. Although shrinking cities are a growing global phenomenon, limited research has examined residents’ perceptions of ES and EDS in these contexts, despite this understanding being crucial for transforming these cities to improve residents’ quality of life. This study investigated residents’ perceptions of ES and EDS in neighborhood greenspaces in the shrinking city of St. Louis, MO, USA, and the factors influencing these perceptions. An online survey of residences who had visited their neighborhood greenspaces at least once in the past 12 months (n = 521) was conducted, with an oversample of low-income respondents to ensure representation of St. Louis’s diverse population. Findings indicate that perceptions of ES were influences by the perceived occurrence of these services, the quantity of nearby greenspaces, and various sociodemographic characteristics. Notably, Black and female respondents expressed higher concerns regarding EDS, highlighting the need for greenspace management to address potential disservices that disproportionately affect vulnerable populations. These insights underscore the importance of equitable greenspace distribution and management that considers socio-demographic diversity, historic inequalities, and resident perceptions of ES and EDS. The findings provide valuable guidance for future urban greenspace planning and management in shrinking cities to foster inclusive and resilient urban environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49394,"journal":{"name":"Urban Forestry & Urban Greening","volume":"104 ","pages":"Article 128675"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143027314","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jinsheng Yan , Juan Zhang , Qi Wang , Xingyuan He , Haifeng Zheng
{"title":"Stand structural characteristics determine ecosystems multifunctionality of urban forests in Changchun City, Northeast China","authors":"Jinsheng Yan , Juan Zhang , Qi Wang , Xingyuan He , Haifeng Zheng","doi":"10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128647","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128647","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Systems theory highlights that stand structural attributes influence overall functioning. However, the relationship between these attributes and ecosystem multifunctionality, particularly in urban forests, remains poorly understood. This study uses regression analysis and a random forest model to assess the effects of 19 indicators of stand structure characteristics on ecosystem multifunctionality of urban forests in Changchun, a representative forest city in northern China. The structural characteristics are categorized into stand structure, herbaceous layer structure, and structural heterogeneity. Multifunctionality is evaluated based on carbon sequestration, rainfall interception, air temperature reduction, humidity enhancement, PM2.5 reduction, and noise reduction. Results indicate that both stand structural heterogeneity and stand density significantly enhance multifunctionality, with structural heterogeneity having the greatest impact, followed by stand structure and herbaceous cover. Thus, optimizing stand density, increasing structural heterogeneity, and maintaining sufficient herbaceous cover are crucial for improving urban forest multifunctionality. These findings offer important implications for urban forest management and the enhancement of urban environmental quality.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49394,"journal":{"name":"Urban Forestry & Urban Greening","volume":"104 ","pages":"Article 128647"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142867433","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shangchun Hu , Jiahui Liu , Jing Que , Xing Su , Baoqin Li , Cancan Quan
{"title":"Perceptions of urban rewilding in a park with secondary succession vegetation growth on lake silt: Landscape preferences and perceived species richness","authors":"Shangchun Hu , Jiahui Liu , Jing Que , Xing Su , Baoqin Li , Cancan Quan","doi":"10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128648","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128648","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Urbanisation often distances people from nature, impacting health and well-being. Urban rewilding reintroduces wilderness into cities, supporting biodiversity and reconnecting people with nature. This study investigates public perception of biodiversity and aesthetic preferences in rewilded urban sites, using Jiangyangfan Ecological Park in Hangzhou, China, as a case study. The park includes rewilded and semi-rewilded plots with varying degrees of human intervention. Participants, including non-experts and landscape architecture students, evaluated photos of the plots for species richness and aesthetic appeal. Results indicate a strong correlation between perceived and measured species richness for non-experts, though this correlation is weaker for students. Non-experts prefer semi-rewilded plots, associating higher species richness with higher aesthetic value, while students’ preferences do not vary significantly with species richness. The correlation between habitat management intensity and aesthetic preferences is weak for both groups, suggesting a balance between natural and managed landscapes can enhance public appreciation. The study highlights the public’s ability to perceive biodiversity and the importance of integrating public preferences in urban rewilding efforts. It underscores the need for nature education to improve biodiversity appreciation, promoting sustainable urban rewilding practices. Our results highlight the potential of semi-rewilding as a balanced approach within urban rewilding, helping to reconcile aesthetic and biodiversity goals in areas where they may conflict.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49394,"journal":{"name":"Urban Forestry & Urban Greening","volume":"104 ","pages":"Article 128648"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142888190","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jie Chen , Hongyu Li , Shixian Luo , Daer Su , Tongguang Zang , Takeshi Kinoshita , Linchuan Yang
{"title":"How do economic levels, urbanization, and infrastructure investments influence inequality in urban green space exposure? Insights from Japanese municipalities","authors":"Jie Chen , Hongyu Li , Shixian Luo , Daer Su , Tongguang Zang , Takeshi Kinoshita , Linchuan Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128649","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128649","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Urban green spaces (UGS) are vital for urban sustainability, but unequal exposure to UGS can lead to serious health inequalities. The long-term drivers of inequalities in personal exposure to UGS and the underlying mechanisms remain insufficiently understood. This study measures trends in inequality in UGS exposure in 710 Japanese municipalities over a 20-year period (2000–2020). The direct and indirect effects of economic status, urbanization, and infrastructure investments on inequalities in UGS exposure were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling while considering the mediating roles of land use, demographic, and greening factors. This study found that the distributional inequality in UGS exposure in Japanese municipalities has increased significantly over the past two decades. Economic levels, urbanization, and infrastructure investments drive UGS exposure inequality directly and indirectly through greening and population density. While these relationships may vary by period and region, UGS and population density remain key predictors. Given Japan's challenges related to population decline and aging, cities need to focus on population dynamics and the distribution and size of UGS based on specific economic conditions and stages of urbanization to formulate effective strategies for sustainable development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49394,"journal":{"name":"Urban Forestry & Urban Greening","volume":"104 ","pages":"Article 128649"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142888935","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yilun Qu , Yan Shi , Xu Wu , Minghui Zhu , Pengfei Zhu , Xiao Zhang , Shuangying Le , Yuan Ren , Jianyun Pan , Yixiang Wang
{"title":"Enhancing the carbon sequestration potential of urban green space: A water–energy–carbon fluxes perspective","authors":"Yilun Qu , Yan Shi , Xu Wu , Minghui Zhu , Pengfei Zhu , Xiao Zhang , Shuangying Le , Yuan Ren , Jianyun Pan , Yixiang Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128652","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128652","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Regulating carbon emissions during landscape maintenance is crucial for increasing net carbon sequestration in urban green spaces. This research focuses on balancing water and energy resource conservation with increasing carbon sequestration. We introduced an integrated water–energy–carbon (WEC) fluxes framework to evaluate the net carbon sequestration of green spaces and a water–energy–carbon sustainability index (WECSI) was developed to assess overall sustainability, emphasizing the carbon sequestration potential (CSP). Taking five types of urban green spaces at Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University as a case study, we observed significant differences in the WEC fluxes among the green space types. Specifically, mainly arbors and closed green space (AC) types had greater CSP due to scale effects, whereas mainly successional short grass and open green space (SGO) types were at risk of becoming net carbon sources. The WECSI analysis revealed the difficulties in simultaneously achieving water conservation, energy efficiency, and net carbon sequestration, with an average sustainability score of 0.57. To maximize CSP in urban green spaces, scenario analysis indicated that low-carbon irrigation practices could increase CSP by up to 25 %, whereas biomass energy from garden waste could reduce irrigation-related carbon emissions by 19 %. These findings provide a strong foundation for optimizing urban green space management to maximize CSP through WEC fluxes regulation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49394,"journal":{"name":"Urban Forestry & Urban Greening","volume":"104 ","pages":"Article 128652"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142918034","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gunjan Sharma , Justin Morgenroth , Daniel R. Richards , Ning Ye
{"title":"Advancing urban forest and ecosystem service assessment through the integration of remote sensing and i-Tree Eco: A systematic review","authors":"Gunjan Sharma , Justin Morgenroth , Daniel R. Richards , Ning Ye","doi":"10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128659","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128659","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Urban forests support the health and well-being of billions of people living in cities globally. To better manage urban forests, it is crucial to assess their ecosystem services. This systematic review analyzes two established urban forest assessment approaches—i-Tree Eco and remote sensing—which have developed independently but hold significant potential for integration. The review, comprising the years 2008 to 2022, evaluates the current status of both methods in assessing urban forest structure and ecosystem services, highlighting opportunities for synergy. The literature shows that while both approaches primarily focus on regulatory services, remote sensing offers more versatile tools for assessing a broader range of ecosystem services beyond i-Tree's standardized scope. Remote sensing holds potential to enhance i-Tree Eco by providing structural and location-specific data at scale, albeit with varying accuracies. Studies have shown that LiDAR data reliably derives tree height and crown width, and that, in combination with multispectral and hyperspectral imagery, it enhances species identification. Additionally, mobile, and terrestrial laser scanners accurately estimate diameter at breast height. However, gaps remain in using remote sensing to assess crown characteristics like crown missing and dieback, which, though not critical, are useful for enhancing ecosystem service estimates in i-Tree Eco. Despite the potential of remote sensing to automate urban tree inventories, limited research has shown its successful integration with i-Tree Eco. Future research should standardize remote sensing techniques for assessing tree crown health. Additionally, further work is needed on quantifying differences between remote sensing and groundbased measurements, with the aim of evaluating uncertainty levels and understanding how these uncertainties impact the reliability and usefulness of data for policymaking and planning.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49394,"journal":{"name":"Urban Forestry & Urban Greening","volume":"104 ","pages":"Article 128659"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142939691","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alba Marquez-Torres , Sudeshna Kumar , Celina Aznarez , G. Darrel Jenerette
{"title":"Assessing the cooling potential of green and blue infrastructure from twelve US cities with contrasting climate conditions","authors":"Alba Marquez-Torres , Sudeshna Kumar , Celina Aznarez , G. Darrel Jenerette","doi":"10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128660","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128660","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rapid urbanization, coupled with climate change, has intensified the need for effective urban heat mitigation strategies. Urban green and blue infrastructure (UGBI), including green spaces and water bodies, plays a key role in mitigating the urban heat island effect and promoting urban resilience. This study analyzed 4617 urban green spaces (UGS) across twelve U.S. cities, representing a range of Köppen climate zones, to explore the structural and functional attributes that contribute to urban cooling. Using GIS and Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMM), we examined the interactions between UGS and blue spaces to better understand their combined effect on local temperature regulation. Our findings underscore the importance of vegetation density, proximity to water, and park size in reducing land surface temperature (LST), with average LST reductions of up to 3 °C in parks with denser vegetation. Greener parks, located near water bodies, were strongly associated with cooler temperatures, emphasizing the synergistic cooling effect of UGBI. Larger parks, particularly those around 350 ha, were more effective at reducing LST. Interestingly, taller buildings adjacent to UGS showed a slight increase in LST until a height of approximately 20 m, after which the effect plateaued. Proximity to water showed a strong cooling effect within 4 kilometers, beyond which the effect diminished and eventually reversed. These findings provide actionable insights for urban planners and policymakers, illustrating how strategic UGBI interventions—especially in cities with high-density urban forms—could reduce local temperatures, mitigate heat-related risks, and enhance urban resilience to climate change.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49394,"journal":{"name":"Urban Forestry & Urban Greening","volume":"104 ","pages":"Article 128660"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142939692","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Allison Malatesta , Betsy Henry , Jeffrey D. Corbin
{"title":"Legacies of past housing discrimination in the present-day urban forest of a moderate-sized US city","authors":"Allison Malatesta , Betsy Henry , Jeffrey D. Corbin","doi":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128679","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128679","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Street trees are known to provide a variety of services to the public. Understanding the makeup of the street tree community, and therefore the extent of those services, requires a consideration of past policies that contributed to the patterns we see today. Inequities in environmental conditions in US cities, including access to street trees, has been shown to be a product of race-based federal policies such as the Federal Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC), which graded communities in the 1930’s according to perceived levels of risk for mortgage lending. We used a 2021 tree inventory to examine whether a legacy of HOLC designations is still observable in the modern urban forest of Schenectady, NY (USA) by comparing the size, number, and diversity of trees within various HOLC grades. The lower-graded areas, C and D, had about half the number of trees as the higher-rated A- and B-graded areas. The trees in D-graded areas were also smaller and were the least taxonomically diverse. In recent years, however, tree plantings have disproportionately favored D-graded areas over A- and B-graded areas. Despite the progress, this study adds to the growing literature that the underprivileged neighborhoods, historically made up of people of color, are not receiving equivalent environmental benefits as wealthier areas. Identifying such patterns highlights the obligation to construct public policy approaches that target the inequities in urban forest conditions so that all residents benefit equally from the services that trees in urban environments provide.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49394,"journal":{"name":"Urban Forestry & Urban Greening","volume":"104 ","pages":"Article 128679"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143157905","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gianni Vesuviano , Alice Fitch , Danial Owen , David Fletcher , Laurence Jones
{"title":"How well does the 3–30–300 rule mitigate urban flooding?","authors":"Gianni Vesuviano , Alice Fitch , Danial Owen , David Fletcher , Laurence Jones","doi":"10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128661","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128661","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The 3–30–300 rule is a new guideline for urban forestry and urban greening, which is rapidly gaining interest among city planners, international organizations and NGOs. However, the ecosystem service benefits of this new guideline have not been quantified and there has been no research to date on how implementing the 3–30–300 rule may mitigate urban flooding. In this study, we use a gridded implementation of the rational method, with flow attenuation included (ANaRM model), to assess the reduction in runoff that can be achieved by implementing urban land-use change to achieve 3–30–300 targets in three European cities of contrasting size and population: Aarhus Municipality (Denmark), Grad Velika Gorica (Croatia) and Paris Region (France). We find that the creation of new green spaces and tree cover can greatly reduce peak pluvial surface runoff rate at-site, and maintain peak flow reductions of several percent in sub-catchments of several square kilometres, including reductions of over 10 % in some sub-catchments of over 20 km<sup>2</sup> in Paris. The specific interventions required to meet aspects of the 3–30–300 rule vary between study areas, and the larger the interventions, the greater the peak runoff rate reduction that can be achieved. This study highlights the importance of linking research with policy in order to quantify the benefits of urban green infrastructure targets and show the real benefits of implementing nature-based solutions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49394,"journal":{"name":"Urban Forestry & Urban Greening","volume":"104 ","pages":"Article 128661"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142939696","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}