Poster Abstract Details

Author(s):
Ann Huyler, Arthur Chappelka, Steven Prior

Affiliation:
Auburn University, Alabama

Presentation Type:
Poster

Topic Area:
Monitoring and predicting human influences on landscapes and ecosystems

Abstract Text:
Urban areas are expanding around the world. The US Forest Service created a computer model, "Urban Forest Effects" or UFORE, to assess an urban forest’s structure, function, and value. Urban forests can provide environmental benefits and improve the quality of life for urban dwellers. In the spring and summer of 2008, 83 plots in Auburn, AL, were measured using the UFORE protocol. The city of Auburn covered 56.6 square miles and had a tree cover of 49.2%. Auburn contained an estimated 19,536,000 trees and 81.9 % of the trees were less than 6 inches in diameter. Overall, Auburn had a tree density of 985 trees per hectare. Loblolly pine, Pinus taeda, sweetgum, Liquidambar styraciflua, and water oak, Quercus nigra, were the dominant species, comprising 60.6% of the total. The city’s land use category that contained the most trees per hectare was ‘institutional’. Auburn’s urban forest stored 36,000 metric tons of carbon and removed 1,080 metric tons per year of pollution, primarily O3 and PM10. The structural value of Auburn’s urban forest was $400 million. The carbon storage value was estimated to be $14.5 million and pollution removal value to be %5.75 million. Auburn is a fast growing small metropolis and the UFORE model provides necessary information to city planners and urban foresters to maximize the financial and environmental benefits of the urban forest.