Assessing environmental services and economic values of urban tree species in open public green spaces at Ecopark, Hung Yen province, Vietnam: An application of i-Tree Eco model

Abstract

Urban trees have been widely acknowledged providing a wide range of environmental services. They help to improve air quality by absorbing pollutants, crucial roles in magaging stormwater runoff etc., in urban environments. This study applied i-Tree Eco model to assess the structure of community trees and quantifies the environmental services and economic values in open public green spaces in Eco Park, Hung Yen province, Vietnam. To run the model, we collected profiles of 942 trees in the study area, including: location; species name; diameter at beast height (DBH, 1.3 m above ground); tree height values (crown tree height, canopy length, etc.); height under canopy (canopy width of East-West, South-North directions); canopy missing percentage; and crown light exposure. The result showed that all the tree species contributed to 990kg PM2.5 reduction (equal to 231,660 $/year); 1,338.4 (ton/year) carbon sequestration (equal to 13,384 $/year) and 26,772.1 (ton) carbon storage (equal to 267721 $/year); and 37,600.2 (m3) avoided runoff (equal to 79,712 $/year). Overall, Khaya senegalensis (Desr.) A. Juss. species was providing the most environmental services; Ficus subpisocarpa Gagnep. species was the most economically valuable with nearly 75 $/tree. Urban landscape design should consider these superior tree species into green infrustructure projects to maximize the environmental services and economic values.