Heritage Trees Research Articles

Species diversity and spatial differentiation of heritage trees in Chengdu, China

Species diversity and spatial differentiation of heritage trees in Chengdu, China

The Perception of Local Community towards Cultural and Historical Value of Urban Heritage Tree in Georgetown World Heritage Site (GWHS)

The Perception of Local Community towards Cultural and Historical Value of Urban Heritage Tree in Georgetown World Heritage Site (GWHS)

The experience of preserving ancient trees in Vienna, Austria

Ancient trees hold considerable aesthetic and ecological value within urban environments. The examination of ancient trees and their overall health and condition is an integral part of a comprehensive assessment aimed at preserving these trees and conserving the natural environment within urban spaces. The purpose of the study was to examine the experience of preserving valuable trees growing in urban space. General scientific theoretical methods – analysis and synthesis – were used to work with lists of tree inventory. Heritage trees grow in all districts in Vienna. It was established that ancient trees were given the status of natural monuments since 1936, the dynamics of bequests were traced, and the decades of Vienna’s most active nature conservation activities were determined. The most famous heritage trees in the city were described. The species diversity of monumental trees was analysed, and their taxonomic affiliation was summarised. The heritage trees in Vienna are represented by 49 genera, most of which belong to the phylum of Magnoliophyta. The most common species among protected trees are Platanus orientalis L., Pinus nigra J.F. Arnold, Aesculus hippocastanum L., Quercus robur L., Taxus baccata L., Tilia platyphyllos Scop. Most of heritage trees (60%) are solitary trees. It was evaluated that the general sanitary condition of protected trees is excellent; almost all trees have high vitality and play a leading role in shaping urban landscapes. Every heritage tree possesses a commendable and elevated aesthetic rating. Analysis of the existing inventory of ancient trees in Vienna, their sanitary condition and aesthetic condition will contribute to the environmental awareness of communities and the improvement of management measures for such trees. The obtained results can be used to share the experience of researchers from different countries regarding preserving ancient trees and forming European databases of heritage trees

Protecting Heritage Trees in Weifang City, Shandong Province, Northern China

Heritage trees are long-lived trees or notable trees with great historical significance, scientific value, or commemorative importance. Many heritage trees have been preserved in Weifang City, Shandong Province, Northern China. In this paper, the origin, species diversity, age structure, health, surrounding habitats, distribution, genera floristic composition, and challenges of protecting the heritage trees were investigated using literature analysis, field survey, and interview. There are 864 heritage trees in the city, composed of 49 species, 41 genera, and 25 families. The heritage trees are divided into three original types: religious trees, naturally dispersed and preserved wild trees, and trees with agricultural backgrounds or used as offerings. Particularly, Sophora japonica, Ziziphus jujube, Ginkgo biloba, Sabina chinensis, Platycladus orientalis, and Osmanthus fragrans are the six most common species. There are 208 individuals of 500 years or elder, 293 individuals of 300–499 years old, 359 individuals of 100–299 years old, and 4 individuals of notable trees. Most of them are distributed in low-urbanized areas of the 4 county-level cities and Linqu county, and few are distributed in high-urbanized areas of the 4 districts of Weifang City. There are 14, 12, and 6 genera belonging to the areal-types of Temperate, Cosmopolitan, and Tropic, respectively, similar to that of wild seed plants in Yishan Mountain. There are some challenges in protecting heritage trees, such as urbanization, habitat deterioration, natural disasters, anthropic activities, health decline, and inadequate management. Some protection measures that have been taken previously are summarized, and some measures that should be taken in the future are proposed.

Historical Trees within the Framework of Urbanization (a Case Study of the Maryam Tree, Matariya District)

Heritage trees are considered among the distinctive and documented features of the geological history of the development of the region and a witness to historical events and a record of the memory of the place. Some of these trees have been documented and preserved, but there were a lot of these trees that were neglected and erased, which made the area lose its natural historical character. This was caused by a combination of factors, including natural factors and factors resulting from haphazard urban development. The study aims to know the criteria for documenting heritage trees and monitoring their impact on the surrounding urban areas. The study followed the descriptive approach through literary review through books and research and the analytical approach by studying similar models of heritage trees and extracting the elements of choosing the heritage tree and the methods of urbanization dealing with the heritage tree and applying these elements to the study area (Maryam's tree) in the Matareya area. Through a documentation form showing the impact of Maryam's tree on the change of uses within the surrounding urban environment. This study concluded by highlighting the importance of protecting these heritage trees from extinction by linking them within the surrounding urban space in proportion to their historical importance. And enacting laws to document the heritage trees to protect them by making a comprehensive map to heritage trees in the Arab Republic of Egypt as a natural heritage that must be preserved.

Hug a tree, hug a building: Reflections on the management of natural and built heritage

A veteran forester refuses to cut down a mammoth, millennium-old Douglas fir on British Columbia’s Vancouver Island. The city council in nearby Victoria designates the stately Empress Hotel as heritage property. The former was an act of environmental conservation; the latter, of built heritage conservation. This essay looks at the two events in the contexts of forest management, historic preservation, climate change, and sustainability. It describes the increasing threats to old-growth and heritage trees, discusses the mitigative tools that are available, and reflects on analogies between safeguarding natural heritage and built heritage. A new management and legislative approach is needed, one that balances science with Indigenous Traditional Knowledge. Until then, advocacy will continue to lead the way. The theme may have been expressed best by an Aboriginal writer from Australia, who reacted to a proposed freeway’s threat to destroy dozens of 800-year-old trees: “Their survival and our fight to keep them alive and safe are a cultural obligation and an assertion of our sovereignty.” The present article unpacks the issues, focusing on stories from British Columbia and California, while looking at parallel experiences elsewhere.

Exploration of anti-inflammatory activity of extract and isolated compounds obtained from the aerial root of Ficus benghalensis Linn.

Ficus benghalensis L. is a traditional heritage tree available in Indian subcontinent and used traditionally for ailment of several diseases. Present study designed to purify and characterize the bioactive moiety (s) from the aerial root part of the plant, and assessment of the role of extract as well as purified molecules in the prevention of inflammation. Aerial root portion of the plant was first extracted using methanol as solvent, and further fractionated with n-hexane and ethyl acetate. α amyrin acetate (S1) was purified from the n-hexane and ethyl acetate fraction, and stigmasterol (S2), first time purified from the plant using from the ethyl acetate fraction using column chromatography. Extract, purified α-amyrin acetate and stigmasterol were checked for their anti-inflammatory property using Carrageenan induced paw oedema model on rat. Extract at a dose 400 mg/kg, α-amyrin acetate and stigmasterol both at 100 mg /kg dose significantly reduce the inflammation near to normal. After 3 hrs the paw volume was inhibited 25%, 47.5%, 42.5%, 45%, 62.5% by EA extract of 200 mg/kg, 400 mg/kg, stigmasterol 100mg/kg, α- amyrin acetate 100 mg/kg and standard Indomethacin, respectively. The finding of present study revealed the prospective anti-inflammatory property of α-amyrin acetate, stigmasterol and extract of aerial root of Ficus benghalensis L.

Differential characteristics and driving forces of the spatial distribution of heritage trees in Luoyang, an ancient capital of China

Heritage trees have important historical, landscape, and ecological value. Exploring the spatial distribution pattern of heritage trees is of great importance to the construction of ecological civilization and the connotation of regional history and culture. This paper took 5,216 heritage trees in Luoyang, an ancient capital of China, as the research object and used geospatial analysis methods and a geographically weighted regression model to analyze the differences and driving forces of the spatial distribution of heritage trees. Results show that 1) the heritage trees in Luoyang were primarily Gleditsia sinensis, Sophora japonica, and Platycladus orientalis, and more than half of these trees were under 300 years old; 2) the high-density area formed a distribution pattern of “three cores, one ring, and two belts,” and the distribution of heritage trees had a positive spatial autocorrelation; 3) different driving factors in different regions had complex influences on the spatial distribution of heritage trees, and the order of influence was as follows: area of forest and orchard land > elevation > number of POIs (points of interest) > distance to the nearest river > slope > number of immovable relics. The results could provide a comprehensive understanding of the spatial distribution of heritage trees to protect the ecological function of heritage trees and mine the cultural value of heritage trees.

Heritage Trees as an Important Sanctuary for Saproxylic Beetles in the Central European Landscape: A Case Study from Litovelské Pomoraví, Czech Republic

Intensive forest and agroforestry management has greatly reduced the biodiversity of saproxylic organisms. Large trees are one of the most important refuges of saproxylic beetles. These large trees that grow outside and inside the forest are declining in the wider landscape. Heritage trees are one of the essential groups of beneficial trees in the landscape. We investigated saproxylic beetles associated with 35 selected oak heritage trees in Litovelské Pomoraví in the eastern Czech Republic. The study aimed to investigate the distribution of saproxylic beetles on trees growing inside or at the edge of forest stands, or on free-growing heritage trees. The other studied variables were the height, DBH, and light condition (sunny or shady) of heritage trees. The results showed that sunny habitats were the only significant factor found for all saproxylic species. However, the significance of increasing tree trunk dimension was found for the endangered species. Diversity indices q = 0 (species richness) and q = 1 (exponential of Shannon entropy index) were also higher for sunny trees, while solitary trees showed a high Shannon index value despite the low number of samples. Redundancy analysis of saproxylic species showed that the preferred habitats of most species were sunny massive solitary oaks. The results indicated that strictly protected heritage trees scattered in the landscape are crucial sanctuaries for many species—especially in landscapes where there are not enough suitable habitats for saproxylic beetles. Finding, conserving, and protecting these rare types of massive trees in the landscape has a significant impact on the conservation of saproxylic beetle biodiversity.

Whose Heritage

Whose Heritage

To exclude or not to exclude? The effect of protest responses on the economic value of an iconic urban heritage tree

It is a common practice for many studies using the contingent valuation method (CVM) to censor protest responses, but this practice may make data structures incomplete and lead to sample selection bias at the final analysis stage for economic evaluation. This study adopted the CVM to assess the economic value of Qiedong-Wang-Gong (Bischofia javanica) (QWG), the only urban heritage tree over a thousand years old in Taiwan, and analyzed the effect of protest reponses. A total of 307 valid samples were collected and 27% of the respondents were categorized to protest responses. This study used discriminant analysis and multinomial logistic regression to distinguish the types of protest samples. The results showed that the overall classification performance of the multinomial logistic regression is better than that of the discriminant analysis. The Tobit model was applied to deal protest responses as legitimate zero responses and the result showed that the model underestimated the economic values of QWG significantly. The Heckman two-stage model was utilized to evaluate the effect of censoring protest responses. The result revealed that excluding protest responses from further valuation analysis did not lead to significant sample selection bias. In this study, many respondents failed to quantify their preferences toward protecting QWG in terms of willingness to pay. This study suggested further studies could highlight the current policy about ancient urban trees management to decrease respondents’ protest beliefs in CVM studies.

Species Diversity and Distribution Pattern of Heritage Trees in the Rapidly-Urbanizing Province of Jiangsu, China

Heritage trees have important ecological, historical, and landscape values in cities. Rapid urbanization may cause dramatic change of ecosystem functions of cities, thereby inevitably affecting the growth performance of ancient trees. However, few studies have explored their species diversity and spatial differentiation on the medium scale in the scenario of urbanization in China. Here, we took Jiangsu Province in China, with developed economy in recent decades, as a typical case. Based on the provincial forest inventory data, we addressed the abundance, species richness, tree density, and species diversity of ancient trees in 13 cities, and their tree habitat, growth status, and tree age, as well. Then, we compared the spatial differentiation of tree attributes by 13 districts and nine tree habitats. We also applied detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) and redundancy analysis (RDA) to determine the leading factor influencing their distribution pattern. The 7678 heritage trees in Jiangsu belonged to 215 species. More than half of the trees were native with domination by Ginkgo biloba. Villages and farmlands accommodated the most heritage trees while parks and gardens harbored the most species. This indicates that sparsely-populated rural community and scenic areas with open space are conducive to accommodating more urban heritage trees. The tier 3 heritage trees (100–299 years) accounted for about 80% of the total. Overall, most ancient trees in Jiangsu grew well. The species diversity index (H) of 13 cities was between 1.98 and 3.39. The H value among the 13 cities was largely affected by elevation range shift, while the tree density by GDP per capita. DCA showed that the ratio of unique species was >40%, and that dominant species presented little habitat preference. Therefore, species diversity among different cities are affected by climate and topography, as well as human factors. With the accelerating urbanization process, tree habitat, cultural tradition, and urban history should be taken into consideration for management and conservation of heritage trees in the future.

Is leaning trees of Vatica pauciflora (Korth.) Blume related to their crown architecture?

Vatica pauciflora (Korth.) Blume (Dipterocarpaceae) or locally known as resak rawa is an important tree. It is categorized as vulnerable regarding the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. We can find the resak rawa tree collection in the Bogor Botanic Gardens, which serves as a place for research and tourism. Due to the diversity in individual tree anatomy within species, understanding correlation among individual tree traits, particularly crown architecture and tree leaning, is of great interest. That will be important because the leaning trees and crown architecture will affect the risk level to the safety of visitors. We can also use the architecture of the tree crown to understand the factors that influence tree growth. This study aims to investigate the correlation between the leaning trees and the crown architecture of V. pauciflora. Eight heritage trees of the species in the Bogor Botanic Gardens at the age of 54–105 years old were purposely, sampled in this study. The variables observed were height, trunk and crown diameter, leaning tree, live crown ratio, and direction of the main branches. The results show that crown shapes will follow the leaning trees with a correlation of 0.97. The main branches will be longer in the direction of the leaning trees (y=0.9956x+11.312; R²=0.9431). Suggestions to the management of V. pauciflora are to provide information boards to visitors and pruning the crown in the direction of the leaning trees is needed. The findings could be used to formulate mitigation measures as to the risk and safety of visitors.

Assessment of the Diversity of Large Tree Species in Rapidly Urbanizing Areas along the Chao Phraya River Rim, Central Thailand

Urban trees provide numerous ecosystem services in cities such as pollution absorption and reduced urban heat island intensity, energy use, and mental fatigue. Understanding urban tree species diversity can enhance tree planning and management in rapidly urbanizing areas. However, few studies have examined the effects of urbanization on urban tree diversity in Thailand. This study assessed the diversity of large trees in urban landscapes including 11 cities along the 372 km Chao Phraya River Rim in central Thailand. Species diversity, importance value, and distribution were evaluated in each city. Our survey documented 987 large trees belonging to 65 species, 48 genera, and 31 families. The dominant species of Dipterocarpus alatus and Hopea odorata had the highest importance and relative abundance. The highest abundance of large trees was seen in the rural city of Sing Buri, while large urban cities such as Ayutthaya and Bangkok exhibited the highest species diversity. Detrended correspondence analysis indicated that the diversity of unique species was high in large urban cities, while dominant and common species were ubiquitous in rural cities. These findings suggest that large trees are few in number but exhibit high species diversity in large rapidly urbanizing cities. Therefore, preserving good site conditions is critical for the survival of large trees in urban cities. Heritage tree registration may aid preservation efforts and enhance the benefits of these large trees in rapidly urbanizing areas.

Monumental Sweet Chestnuts (Castanea sativa Mill.) in Galicia’s Cultural Landscape (NW Spain)

ABSTRACT Soutos – single-species groves of sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) trees – are a highly characteristic component of the Galician cultural landscape in northwest Spain, and a clear expression of the interactions between nature and culture that define landscapes. The trees in the soutos have for centuries been subject to cultural practices aimed at increasing the production of fruit, timber, or both at the same time. Other products from the soutos not long ago considered secondary, for example ecosystem services, fungal production or beekeeping, are nowadays becoming steadily more valued by people. Individual trees, many of them catalogued as of outstanding value in the Inventario de Árboles Sobresalientes de Galicia, are often of unusual size and age thanks to the long tradition of pollarding, and they are often important landmarks and cultural icons. This paper based partly on research carried out for the Galician Catalogue of Heritage Trees, and focussing on 180 outstanding specimens of sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.), summarises the significance and use of the Galician soutos, and the traditional management that has created them. It also identifies the processes which over the past several decades have encouraged a decline in the numbers and preservation of the groves, and proposes good management practice for the future which could help to preserve these distinctive landscape.

The Beliefs and Aesthetics of Isaan Heritage Trees

This article is a part of a Doctoral Thesis titled “Isaan Heritage Tree: From the Belief and the Aesthetic to the Creation of Visual Arts,” with the objectives of studying the belief and the aesthetic that exist in the Isaan Heritage Tree using the qualitative method. The study’s target groups can be divided into three following groups: the experts, the practitioners, and the related people. The area of study is in the Isaan region. The region is divided into upper Isaan, mid-Isaan, and lower Isaan. The research tools consist of surveys, non-participatory observation, and structured and non-structured interviews. The data collected from documents and field data was analyzed using Aesthetic Theory and Symbolic Interactionism Theory and presented using descriptive analysis. The study results show that Isaan has a long history and development both in geography, the administration, society, the culture, and the migration of people who came to settle in the area from Luang Phrabang, Vientiane, and Champasak. This had caused the people and nation’s coming together and led to social management, which consists of regulations, religion, and belief. The beliefs of the Isaan people are connected to forest spirits, household spirits, or tree spirits. Five following characteristics of the Heritage Trees were also found: 1) The traditional beliefs related to the Heritage Trees of Isaan. 2) The new belief. 3) The beliefs that are connected to the locations. 4) The beliefs in the tree spirits whose identity and gender cannot be identified. 5) Auspicious and inauspicious beliefs. There are three aspects for the aesthetics: Aesthetic elements are the feeling of amazement due to the gigantic size filled with astonishment, mystery, and the fear of power. The interesting aspects of Art elements are the unity and relationship to the seasons, such as the Fall season, Rainy Season, and the blooming of flowers that contribute to the changes in the aesthetics changes. The visual art elements consist of six following components; bodies and shapes, lines, colors, textures, light and shadows, and area. It was found that the gigantic size and height cause amazements to the viewers. The physical lines of the Isaan Heritage trees were the lines along the trunks, the lines on the branches, and the lines that go along the leaves and flowers. There are different colors of the trunk, the leaves, and the flowers. The texture was rough, harsh, and the cracks follow the same directions as the trunk. There are botanical differences in the light and shadows of the heritage trees. As for the area, there are differences between the area of the heritage trees and the surrounding areas, as well as the differences within the Isaan Heritage Trees area.
 
 Received: 25 January 2021 / Accepted: 31 March 2021 / Published: 10 May 2021

Establishing consensus criteria for determining heritage tree status

ABSTRACT Heritage trees are identified and valued based on important historical, cultural and physical criteria that these specimens possess. This research attempts to support heritage tree programmes by identifying a standardised set of expert-verified criteria that can be applied regardless of geographic location. An initial set of 40 criteria were derived from an analysis of 46 case studies and presented to a panel of heritage tree experts to obtain consensus on the core criteria that should be used by any heritage tree programme. A three iteration Delphi method was used to evaluate the criteria and allowed additional content to be generated by the panel. The result saw 50 criteria analysed to produce a set of 16 consensus core criteria and an additional 29 situational criteria that can apply on a case-by-case basis. This study identified the existence of 16 common values shared among these tree programmes and serves as an initial template for use by current and proposed heritage tree programmes to select ideal candidates. Through this standardised evaluation system, the current patchwork of heritage tree programmes now has the potential to become a unified network leading to the increased awareness and protection of these trees.

Ecological importance of two large heritage trees in Moyar River valley, southern India

Large old trees are critical to maintaining biodiversity in forested landscapes, however, they are often overlooked in forest management and conservation. This article exemplifies the ecological importance of two such large trees that belong to Terminalia arjuna and Hardwickia binata in the Moyar River valley landscape of Tamil Nadu, India.

The Induction of Adventitious Roots Regeneration before Transplanting Rootless Ficus elastica Heritage Tree

Heritage trees carry both botanical and historical value for a city’s resilience and sustainability and hence are precious and unique. Their transplant is costly and very rare due to tremendous cost and 100% survival requirement by law. Rootless transplant is even more detrimental to the heritage tree due to removal of roots infected by brown root rot (BRR) before transplanting. This study examined the adventitious roots (AR) induction ability of the Ficus elastica Roxb. heritage tree infected with BRR. The experimental design considered three factors: root diameter (RD), wounding method (WM), and auxin solution on aerial roots under fractional factorial experiment in completely randomized design (CRD). There were four RD groups: RDI (RD < 2 cm), RDII (2 ≤ RD ≤ 4.3 cm), RDIII (4.3 < RD ≤ 22), and RDIV (RD > 22); three WMs: cutting off (CF), girdling (GD), and rectangular shape peeling (RP) of aerial roots; and three auxin solutions: 2000 mg·L−1 IBA(Indole-3-butyric acid) (2B), 2000 mg·L−1 IBA + 2000 mg·L−1 NAA(1-Naphthaleneacetic acid) (2NB), and 4000 mg·L−1 IBA (4B) plus water as control (C). The number of rooting wounds, number of roots, and the mean length of the three longest adventitious roots in each wound were recorded to evaluate the AR rooting performance. Twenty four treatment combinations including 328 wounds were tested. The results showed that rooting ability was significantly correlated with RD and WM. Smaller RDs had better rooting and declined with increased RDs. CF had the best rooting followed by GD and then RP. Auxin solution did not significantly affect the rooting ability. It may be due to the abundant endogenous auxin in the heritage tree, which mitigated the effect of exogenous auxin for AR induction. We conclude that cutting off small-diameter aerial roots is the best approach to induce ARs from rootless F. elastica heritage trees to enhance transplantation success.

Assessing the economic value of an iconic urban heritage tree

This study adopted the contingent valuation method (CVM) to estimate the annual economic value of Qiedong-Wang-Gong (Bischofia javanica), the only urban heritage tree that was over a thousand years old in Taiwan, having the largest population in Central Taiwan. In this study, 307 samples were collected and classifying and excluding the protest responses, which took up about 26.7% of the whole sample, resulted in a 36.4% increase in the mean overall WTP. Results indicated that the respondents who ascribed low importance to the existence values of urban heritage trees and those who had never heard of Qiedong-Wang-Gong (or showed little concern about regular payment for protecting urban heritage trees) were more likely not to pay for conserving Qiedong-Wang-Gong. The results also showed that the respondents whose ages ranged from 31 to 50 were likely to pay more than others for Qiedong-Wang-Gong conservation. Using multinomial logistic regression for further analysis, we found that older respondents were more familiar with Qiedong-Wang-Gong than younger ones. To bring more economic benefits of urban heritage trees management, our results suggested that local policymakers should improve young citizens' familiarities with local old trees by linking these green resources with the local culture.