 Assessing Urban Ecosystems
Within i-Tree, entire urban forest tree populations are assessed using UFORE-the Urban Forest Effects model. Developed in the late 1990s by researchers at the USDA Forest Service's Northeastern Research Station in Syracuse, NY, UFORE is a computer model that calculates the structure, environmental effects and values of urban forests.
What is UFORE?
UFORE is a model suite that allows users to collect data on the entire urban forest and estimate the ecosystem services the resource provides to the community. From project start to finish, UFORE is a complete package that provides users with the following components:
- Detailed, statistically based sampling and data collection protocols. These protocols allow for estimation of total and variation related to urban forest structure and population effects.
- A customizable PDA Utility that supplies data collection applications to run on low-cost, Windows-based Pocket PCs.
- A central computing engine that makes scientifically sound estimates of the effects of urban forests based on peer-reviewed scientific equations to predict environmental and economic benefits.
- Summary reports that include charts, tables, 18 page written report, and mapping tool that allows you to display several basic urban forest data without having access to GIS software and skills.
What does UFORE do?
After tree data are collected and entered into the UFORE database (either by uploading from PDAs or by doing manual entry), they are merged with local hourly weather and air pollution concentration data. These data make it possible to calculate structural and functional information using a series of scientific equations or algorithms. If a complete inventory is conducted (i.e., all trees are measured; a 100% sample), then UFORE calculates values for each tree and for the total population. If only a sample is examined (i.e., plots are randomly located within the area of analysis), then UFORE calculates estimates for the total population along with estimate error.
The UFORE model is currently designed to provide accurate estimates of:
- Urban forest structure (e.g., species composition, number of trees, tree density, tree health, etc.), analyzed by land-use type.
- Hourly amount of pollution removed by the urban forest, and associated percent air quality improvement throughout a year. Pollution removal is calculated for ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and particulate matter (<10 microns).
- Hourly urban forest volatile organic compound emissions and the relative impact of tree species on net ozone and carbon monoxide formation throughout the year.
- Total carbon stored and net carbon annually sequestered by the urban forest.
- Effects of trees on building energy use and consequent effects on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
- Compensatory value of the forest, as well as the value of air pollution removal and carbon storage and sequestration.
- Tree pollen allergenicity index.
- Potential impact of pests such as Gypsy moth, emerald ash borer, or Asian longhorned beetle.
The first steps in the start up of a UFORE project are:
- Define the study area for the project. The study area can range from a single tree up to any size tree population. Typical UFORE study populations:
- park and/or street trees
- all trees inside the municipal boundary
- all trees inside the county boundary
- Decide whether data will be collected from the complete population or only from random samples of that population. For small populations, complete data collection is possible. More commonly, UFORE depends on sampling larger areas of the urban forest such as neighborhoods, sections of a city, an entire city, or urbanized areas around a city.
Select from the options below:
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