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Sousa-Silva R, Cameron E, Paquette A. Prioritizing Street Tree Planting Locations to Increase Benefits for All Citizens: Experience From Joliette, Canada. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.716611] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
As the climate continues to warm and the world becomes more urbanized, our reliance on trees and the benefits they provide is rapidly increasing. Many cities worldwide are planting trees to offset rising temperatures, trap pollutants, and enhance environmental and human health and well-being. To maximize the benefits of planting trees and avoid further increasing social inequities, a city needs to prioritize where to establish trees by first identifying those areas of greatest need. This work aims to demonstrate a spatially explicit approach for cities to determine these priority locations to achieve the greatest returns on specific benefits. Criteria for prioritization were developed in tandem with the City of Joliette, Canada, and based on nine indicators: surface temperature, tree density, vegetation cover, resilience, tree size and age, presence of species at risk, land use type, socioeconomic deprivation, and potential for active transportation. The City’s preferences were taken into account when assigning different weights to each indicator. The resulting tree planting priority maps can be used to target street tree plantings to locations where trees are needed most. This approach can be readily applied to other cities as these criteria can be adjusted to accommodate specific tree canopy goals and planning constraints. As cities are looking to expand tree canopy, we hope this work will assist in sustaining and growing their urban forest, enabling it to be more resilient and to keep providing multiple and sustained benefits where they are needed the most.
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Sousa-Silva R, Smargiassi A, Kneeshaw D, Dupras J, Zinszer K, Paquette A. Strong variations in urban allergenicity riskscapes due to poor knowledge of tree pollen allergenic potential. Sci Rep 2021; 11:10196. [PMID: 33986328 PMCID: PMC8119473 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-89353-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2020] [Accepted: 04/23/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Exposure to allergenic tree pollen is an increasing environmental health issue in urban areas. However, reliable, well-documented, peer-reviewed data on the allergenicity of pollen from common tree species in urban environments are lacking. Using the concept of 'riskscape', we present and discuss evidence on how different tree pollen allergenicity datasets shape the risk for pollen-allergy sufferers in five cities with different urban forests and population densities: Barcelona, Montreal, New York City, Paris, and Vancouver. We also evaluate how tree diversity can modify the allergenic risk of urban forests. We show that estimates of pollen exposure risk range from 1 to 74% for trees considered to be highly allergenic in the same city. This variation results from differences in the pollen allergenicity datasets, which become more pronounced when a city's canopy is dominated by only a few species and genera. In an increasingly urbanized world, diverse urban forests offer a potentially safer strategy aimed at diluting sources of allergenic pollen until better allergenicity data is developed. Our findings highlight an urgent need for a science-based approach to guide public health and urban forest planning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rita Sousa-Silva
- Centre for Forest Research, Department of Biological Sciences, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
| | - Audrey Smargiassi
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Public Health Research Institute, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
- National Institute of Public Health of Quebec, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Daniel Kneeshaw
- Centre for Forest Research, Department of Biological Sciences, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Jérôme Dupras
- Institut des Sciences de la Forêt Tempérée, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Ripon, QC, Canada
| | - Kate Zinszer
- Public Health Research Institute, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Alain Paquette
- Centre for Forest Research, Department of Biological Sciences, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
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Sousa-Silva R, Smargiassi A, Paquette A, Kaiser D, Kneeshaw D. Exactly what do we know about tree pollen allergenicity? Lancet Respir Med 2020; 8:e10. [PMID: 32135096 DOI: 10.1016/s2213-2600(19)30472-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2019] [Accepted: 12/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rita Sousa-Silva
- Centre for Forest Research, Department of Biological Sciences, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
| | - Audrey Smargiassi
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada; Public Health Research Center, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada; National Institute of Public Health of Quebec, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Alain Paquette
- Centre for Forest Research, Department of Biological Sciences, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - David Kaiser
- Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada; Montreal Public Health Department, Montreal, QC, Canada; Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Dan Kneeshaw
- Centre for Forest Research, Department of Biological Sciences, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
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Vanhellemont M, Sousa-Silva R, Maes SL, Van den Bulcke J, Hertzog L, De Groote SRE, Van Acker J, Bonte D, Martel A, Lens L, Verheyen K. Distinct growth responses to drought for oak and beech in temperate mixed forests. Sci Total Environ 2019; 650:3017-3026. [PMID: 30373078 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2018] [Revised: 10/02/2018] [Accepted: 10/04/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Droughts are expected to become more intense and frequent. Mixed forests can be more resilient to extreme events, but are the individual trees in mixed forests also more resilient to drought? METHODS We sampled 275 trees in 53 temperate forest stands in northern Belgium: monocultures, two-species mixtures, and the three-species mixture of Fagus sylvatica, Quercus robur, and Q. rubra. We related the annual basal area increment of individual trees to drought severity from 1955 to 2015 and calculated growth resistance, recovery, and resilience for six contrasting drought episodes (spring, summer, or full-year drought). RESULTS Tree growth of the diffuse-porous F. sylvatica was more sensitive to drought, summer drought in particular. The ring-porous Q. robur and Q. rubra were mainly affected by spring drought. In general, a tree's growth response to drought was not affected by tree species diversity, but some identity effects emerged. CONCLUSION The asynchrony in drought responses among the tree species (a large and immediate decrease in growth followed by swift recovery in F. sylvatica vs a smaller delayed response in Quercus) might stabilize productivity in forests in which both are present. The impact of the predicted increasing drought frequency will depend on the timing of the droughts (spring vs summer).
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Affiliation(s)
- Margot Vanhellemont
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Gontrode, Belgium.
| | - Rita Sousa-Silva
- Institut des Sciences de la Forêt Tempérée (ISFORT), Département des Sciences Naturelles, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Ripon, QC J0V 1V0, Canada
| | - Sybryn L Maes
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Jan Van den Bulcke
- UGent-Woodlab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent, Belgium
| | - Lionel Hertzog
- Terrestrial Ecology Unit, Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Gent, Belgium
| | - Stefanie R E De Groote
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Joris Van Acker
- UGent-Woodlab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent, Belgium
| | - Dries Bonte
- Terrestrial Ecology Unit, Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Gent, Belgium
| | - An Martel
- Department Pathology, Bacteriology and Avian Diseases, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium
| | - Luc Lens
- Terrestrial Ecology Unit, Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Gent, Belgium
| | - Kris Verheyen
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Gontrode, Belgium
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Sousa-Silva R, Verheyen K, Ponette Q, Bay E, Sioen G, Titeux H, Van de Peer T, Van Meerbeek K, Muys B. Tree diversity mitigates defoliation after a drought-induced tipping point. Glob Chang Biol 2018; 24:4304-4315. [PMID: 29802782 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2018] [Accepted: 05/18/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the processes that underlie drought-related tree vitality loss is essential for anticipating future forest dynamics, and for developing management plans aiming at increasing the resilience of forests to climate change. Forest vitality has been continuously monitored in Europe since the acid rain alert in the 1980s, and the intensive monitoring plots of ICP Forests offer the opportunity to investigate the effects of air pollution and climate change on forest condition. By making use of over 100 long-term monitoring plots, where crown defoliation has been assessed extensively since 1990, we discovered a progressive shift from a negative to a positive effect of species richness on forest health. The observed tipping point in the balance of net interactions, from competition to facilitation, has never been reported from real ecosystems outside experimental conditions; and the strong temporal consistency of our observations with increasing drought stress emphasizes its climate change relevance. Furthermore, we show that higher species diversity has reduced the severity of defoliation in the long term. Our results confirm the greater resilience of diverse forests to future climate change-induced stress. More generally, they add to an accumulating body of evidence on the large potential of tree species mixtures to face manifold disturbances in a changing world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rita Sousa-Silva
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Division of Forest, Nature and Landscape, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Kris Verheyen
- Forest & Nature Lab, Ghent University, Gontrode-Melle, Belgium
| | - Quentin Ponette
- Earth and Life Institute, Environmental Sciences, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Elodie Bay
- Observatoire Wallon de la Santé des Forêts (OWSF) - Direction du Milieu forestier (DEMNA-DMF), Service Public de Wallonie (SPW), Gembloux, Belgium
| | - Geert Sioen
- Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Brussels, Belgium
| | - Hugues Titeux
- Earth and Life Institute, Environmental Sciences, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Thomas Van de Peer
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Division of Forest, Nature and Landscape, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Koenraad Van Meerbeek
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Division of Forest, Nature and Landscape, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Bart Muys
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Division of Forest, Nature and Landscape, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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