Synergies and trade-offs in ecosystem services from urban and peri‑urban forests and their implication to sustainable city design and planning

Abstract

Reducing trade-offs among ecosystem services (ES) from urban and peri‑urban forests (UPF) is crucial for human wellbeing. We performed spatial analyses and quantified the supply and trade-offs between 23 ES (grouped into three categories: provisioning, regulating, and supporting) from UPF in the Karlsruhe region, southwest Germany. The supply of ES was calculated, normalized, and mapped from field data collected at 201 randomly selected plots in UPF, located in agricultural land, built-up areas (i.e., artificial surfaces), and forest and seminatural areas. Trade-offs were calculated as the root mean squared error between the benefits from two categories of ES. Predominantly, there was a synergy between provisioning and regulating ES; however, trade-offs with supporting ecosystem services were detected in all three land-uses. The UPF areas with a high supply of supporting ES (e.g. tree species, structural and tree microhabitat diversity) had a lower supply of regulating and provisioning ES, resulting in trade-offs. This study demonstrates trade-off patterns between the ES in UPF, which should be considered in the management of UPF and sustainable city design. Current UPF should be transformed to a more multifunctional and climate-resilient state to guarantee ES and human wellbeing in cities.