Sammanfattning

High species diversity is argued to be the most important requisite for a resilient urban forest. In spite of this, there are many cities in the northern hemisphere that have very limited species diversity within their tree population. Consequently, there is an immense risk to urban canopy cover, if these over-used species succumb to serious pests or pathogens. Recognition of this should motivate the use of less commonly used species. Analysis of plant traits, such as the leaf water potential at turgor loss ((P0)), can provide useful insights into a species' capacity to grow in warm and dry urban environments. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate (P0) of 45 tree species, the majority of which are rare in urban environments. To help evaluate the potential for using (P0) data to support future decision-making, a survey of professionals engaged with establishing trees in urban environments was also used to assess the relationship between the measured (P0) and the perceived drought tolerance of selected species. This study demonstrates that (P0) gives strong evidence for a species' capacity to tolerate dry growing conditions and is a trait that varies substantially across species. Furthermore, (P0) was shown to closely relate to the experience of professionals involved in establishing trees in urban environments, thus providing evidence of its practical significance. Use of plant traits, such as (P0), should, therefore, give those specifying trees confidence to recommend non-traditional species for challenging urban environments.

Nyckelord

Urban trees; Urban forest; Plant selection; Diversification; Trait based tree selection; Leaf turgor loss

Publicerad i

Urban Ecosystems
2018, Volym: 21, nummer: 6, sidor: 1171-1188
Utgivare: SPRINGER

SLU författare

• Sjöman, Henrik

  • Institutionen för landskapsarkitektur, planering och förvaltning, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    
  • Göteborgs botaniska trädgård

Globala målen

SDG11 Göra städer och bosättningar inkluderande, säkra, motståndskraftiga och hållbara


UKÄ forskningsämne

Skogsvetenskap
Landskapsarkitetktur
Ekologi


Publikationens identifierare

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-018-0791-5

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/97546