Tree Planting Decisions Research Articles

The effects of tree planting on allergenic pollen production in New York City

Planting low-pollen trees could reduce aeroallergen exposure in cities, but the effects of historical tree planting on contemporary airborne pollen exposure remains largely unexplored. Whether tree selection decisions can effectively reduce airborne pollen will depend in part on which taxa are the most important sources of allergenic pollen and the extent to which they are intentionally planted vs. unplanted (i.e., recruiting naturally). Here, we use airborne pollen measurements to examine which taxa are of allergenic importance in New York City (NYC), and then combine two tree surveys with allometric equations to determine pollen production for several taxa. Future changes in pollen production as a function of growth, mortality, and recruitment are then simulated using i-Tree Eco Forecast. The most important producers of allergenic pollen in NYC are Quercus, Platanus, Morus, and Betula; they comprise 71% of airborne pollen measured and 93% of estimated pollen production (107 quadrillion pollen grains; however, pollen production was not estimated for all taxa). Previous municipal planting decisions have resulted in the high abundance of Platanus × acerifolia; it accounts for 34% of total street tree basal area and has an estimated annual pollen production of 27.7 ± 6.4 quadrillion grains. In contrast, Morus and Betula are generally unplanted, indicating that tree planting decisions will have smaller effects on their future pollen production rates in NYC. Quercus trees produced an estimated 68.2 ± 12.3 quadrillion pollen grains and accounted for almost 25% of airborne pollen collected, but were very abundant in parks and were mostly unplanted, suggesting that planting has not and will not have a major effect on city-wide pollen production. Overall, this study demonstrates that tree planting decisions can have important and long-lasting consequences for city-wide pollen production but only for species that are both primarily planted and large producers of allergenic pollen.

Determinants of tree planting and retention behaviour of homeowners in built-up urban areas of Ghana

Urban forestry provides diverse ecosystem services to urban dwellers. However, urban forestry in Ghana has received little attention and investment over the years. The objectives of this study were to assess the socio-economic factors that influence homeowners’ perceptions of the ecosystem services provided by trees and to determine the factors that affect tree planting and retention decisions in built-up urban areas. Questionnaires were used to collect data from homeowners in three regional capital cities in Ghana (Kumasi: N = 205, Sunyani: N = 200; Cape Coast = 200). A binary logit model and MANOVA were applied to the data set of these 605 homeowners. The results of the binary logit model indicated that the age of the homeowner was significant (P = 0.009) and negatively related to the decision to plant or retain existing trees. Monthly income (P < 0.001), housing type (P = 0.042) and ethnicity (P = 0.089) were significant and positively related to the tree planting and retention decisions of the homeowners. The geographical location (city), gender and marital status significantly influenced homeowners' perceptions of the ecosystem services provided by urban trees.

Construction and Proactive Management Led to Tree Removals on an Urban College Campus

Urban trees in lawns and along streets are anthropogenically constructed systems, in that these tree communities are formed by human planting and removal actions. Tree mortality studies are essential to understanding the temporal dynamism of urban forests, and in particular, it is critical to incorporate institutional records and human decision-making regarding tree removals. In this study, we investigated tree removals on a highly urbanized college campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (US) by analyzing field inventories and institutional records, and by considering firsthand accounts of the University Landscape Architect. The annual mortality rate was 4.3%, higher than typical for comparable studies, which we attribute to construction pressure and proactive management to promptly remove unhealthy trees and manage risk. Capital projects and other construction caused 48.5% of all removals, other human land use decisions caused 2.0%, and tree health decline and risk management collectively accounted for 48.7%. The number of removed trees exactly equaled the number of new trees, and the campus has high taxonomic diversity, reflecting the extensive oversight by university tree and landscape professionals regarding tree removal and planting decisions. This study demonstrates the value of mixed-methods and transdisciplinary research to understand how urban forests change over time.

Urban Planning Insights from Tree Inventories and Their Regulating Ecosystem Services Assessment

With the uncertainties that our societies are living with (the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change), it becomes essential to provide urban planners and decision-makers with state-of-the-art and user-friendly methodologies to incorporate ecosystem service considerations into their designs for resilient cities. In this regard, urban forests play a crucial role. The quantification of the ecosystem services is geo-specific and needs studies in different urban contexts. At this scope, we evaluated the urban forest of a neighborhood of a densely built-up Italian city (Perugia) with a low level of urban greenery management and with a tree inventory still in progress. Furthermore, we defined a tool helpful in tree-planting decisions and management. This paper involves citizens in field research for trees inventory. Then, it uses i-Tree Eco to evaluate four ecosystem services (carbon storage and sequestration, pollution removal, and runoff avoided) provided by 373 inventoried urban trees belonging to 57 species. Our results show that Italian Municipal tree inventories do not adequately represent their urban forest and that citizens’ participation provides a cost-effective method for integrating field data. Finally, the paper develops an easy tool helping local administrations enhance the ecosystem services provisions in urban green design.

Socio-Economic Determinants of Smallholder Tree Plantation in Basona-Werana Woreda in the North Shoa of Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia

Tree growing by smallholders is an emerging livelihood strategy in Basona-Werana &lt;em&gt;Woreda&lt;/em&gt; of the North Shoa Zone of Amhara Regional State. The objective of this study was to identify socio-economic determinants of the smallholder tree growing in the study area. Data were collected from the household survey, key informants and focus group discussions. The binary logistic regression model was employed to identify the socio-economic determinants of smallholder tree growing behavior. According to the study, about 55% of tree growers generated their livelihood income from tree planting whereas 72% of non-growers generated income from livestock. Family size of the household and age positively and significantly affected tree planting decisions at P &amp;lt; 0.10 and P &amp;lt; 0.01, respectively. Meanwhile, livestock ownership and distance to the market were negatively and significantly influenced the decision to tree planting at P &amp;lt; 0.01 and P &amp;lt; 0.05, correspondingly. Similarly, total household income positively and significantly (P &amp;lt; 0.01) affected tree planting decisions. This study concluded that the socio-economic circumstances of smallholder farmers must be taken into account in the formulation of initiatives and policies aimed at encouraging smallholders to grow trees in their farming systems to improve livelihood and sustainable agricultural production.

Key factors influencing forest tree planting decisions of households: A case study in Hoa Binh province, Vietnam

ABSTRACT In coping with significant deforestation, forest degradation, and a lack of raw materials for the wood processing industry, currently in Hoa Binh province, massive reforestation projects have been implemented. However, when remarkable attempts and investments have been made in reforestation, interaction of household characteristics, socio-economic and institutional factors with small-scale forest tree planting decision are still little understood in Vietnam in general and in the study area in particular. In this study, 250 households of 2 districts, namely Cao Phong and Kim Boi, in Hoa Binh province were surveyed on factors influencing forest tree planting decision by households. We found that five main factors – including attitude to forest tree planting, knowledge of household head on silviculture, investment capital, participation in forest programs, and age of household head – significantly influenced forest tree planting decision by households in the study area.

Socio-demographic, behavioural, economic and structural factors affecting private tree planting decisions to increase ecosystem services in the Republic of Ireland.

Forest policy in Ireland has focused on the expansion of forest cover in recent years to increase ecosystem services, but in spite of financial support to incentivize farmers to afforest previously agricultural land and the high returns of farm forestry relative to the agricultural alternatives, the rate of annual afforestation is falling well below targets. This paper presents results from a survey of farmers that examined the differences between the characteristics and attitudes of farmers that have planted trees and those that have not. We explore two decisions (a) the decision to enter into forestry and (b) how much land is planted. The results show that farmers consider a broad range of factors along with the expected economic returns in deciding whether to afforest land. Factors such as the irreversibility of the planting decision, bequeathing property to decedents, farm size, and socio-demographic, structural and behavioral factors all play a role in the afforestation decision. Until now, the incentivization of afforestation has focused solely on the provision of economic incentives. If future policies are to be more effective in achieving increased afforestation, policy makers may also need to address issues around education and regulation.

Canopy of advantage: Who benefits most from city trees?

Urban tree canopy provides a suite of ecological, social, and economic benefits to the residents of urban areas. With an expanding recognition of these benefits among city residents, there is growing concern that access to these benefits is not distributed equally and may represent the presence of an environmental injustice. This study examines the spatial relationship between median household income and tree canopy variables, specifically realized tree canopy cover and potential tree canopy cover, for Toronto, Canada. Toronto provides a strong empirical focus as it is a densely populated urban setting reported to be exhibiting an increase in the geographic polarization of residents based upon household income. Spatial relationships between median household income and tree canopy variables are evaluated using the bivariate Moran's I statistic, a specialized local indicator of spatial autocorrelation (LISA). This method explicitly identified where statistically significant spatial clusters of high and low household income coincide with significant clusters of high and low urban tree canopy, providing the basis for an examination of the policies and management decisions that led to this temporal snapshot. The importance of these spatial clusters is examined from the perspective of understanding the impact of urban change (both socio-demographic and built form), and from the standpoint of improving equality of access to city trees and their benefits resulting from future tree planting decisions.

Determinants of farmers' tree-planting investment decisions as a degraded landscape management strategy in the central highlands of Ethiopia

Abstract. Land degradation due to lack of sustainable land management practices is one of the critical challenges in many developing countries including Ethiopia. This study explored the major determinants of farm-level tree-planting decisions as a land management strategy in a typical farming and degraded landscape of the Modjo watershed, Ethiopia. The main data were generated from household surveys and analysed using descriptive statistics and a binary logistic regression model. The model significantly predicted farmers' tree-planting decisions (χ2 = 37.29, df = 15, P &lt; 0.001). Besides, the computed significant value of the model revealed that all the considered predictor variables jointly influenced the farmers' decisions to plant trees as a land management strategy. The findings of the study demonstrated that the adoption of tree-growing decisions by local land users was a function of a wide range of biophysical, institutional, socioeconomic and household-level factors. In this regard, the likelihood of household size, productive labour force availability, the disparity of schooling age, level of perception of the process of deforestation and the current land tenure system had a critical influence on tree-growing investment decisions in the study watershed. Eventually, the processes of land-use conversion and land degradation were serious, which in turn have had adverse effects on agricultural productivity, local food security and poverty trap nexus. Hence, the study recommended that devising and implementing sustainable land management policy options would enhance ecological restoration and livelihood sustainability in the study watershed.

Tending their urban forest: Residents’ motivations for tree planting and removal

Drivers at multiple scales influence the management of trees, grass and other vegetation in residential yards. While significant attention has been paid to the varied drivers of residential lawn care and herbaceous vegetation, less attention has been directed at urban tree management on residential property, particularly at the finer household-scale. This study examines residents’ tree planting and removal decisions in Mississauga (Ontario, Canada) to better understand the way household-scale actions shape urban forests. Analysis of survey responses and interviews indicate that residents are activity managing their trees. Tree planting and species selection decisions were primarily motivated by aesthetic preferences and maintenance concerns. Additionally, nearly all of the motivating factors identified by residents were related to personal preferences and site-level characteristics as oppose to the ecosystem services highlighted by many researchers and practitioners. Tree removal was most commonly motivated by poor tree health. However, underlying many residents’ decisions were a lack of knowledge about tree care and species characteristics, which contributed to a number of healthy tree removals. Ultimately, residents’ focus on aesthetics is out of alignment with municipal plans that are frequently based on ecosystem service provision, while desire for low maintenance trees and lack of tree care knowledge raises concerns about the long-term sustainability of the urban forest.

The Legacy of Past Tree Planting Decisions for a City Confronting Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) Invasion

Management decisions grounded in ecological understanding are essential to the maintenance of a healthy urban forest. Decisions about where and what tree species to plant have both short and long-term consequences for the future function and resilience of city trees. Through the construction of a theoretical damage index, this study examines the legacy effects of a street tree planting program in a densely populated North American city confronting an invasion of emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis). An investigation of spatial autocorrelation for locations of high damage potential across the City of Toronto, Canada was then conducted using Getis-Ord Gi*. Significant spatial clustering of high damage index values affirmed that past urban tree planting practices placing little emphasis on species diversity have created time-lagged consequences of enhanced vulnerability of trees to insect pests. Such consequences are observed at the geographically local scale, but can easily cascade to become multi-scalar in their spatial extent. The theoretical damage potential index developed in this study provides a framework for contextualizing historical urban tree planting decisions where analysis of damage index values for Toronto reinforces the importance of urban forest management that prioritizes proactive tree planting strategies that consider species diversity in the context of planting location.

Factors Influencing Farmers’ Decisions to Plant Trees on Their Farms in Uttar Pradesh, India

Increasing tree planting on farms is beneficial to increase the supply of forest functions including provision or raw materials, sequestration of carbon and wildlife habitat. Tree planting decisions by farmers are governed by the knowledge base of farm households, and other factors if the farmers are rational decision-makers under their given resource endowments. A recent surge of tree planting in several states in northern India, though inadequate, coincided with efforts by national and state forest agencies to promote tree planting. This paper reports on the results of a survey into tree plantations of 176 randomly selected households distributed in 34 villages in Western Uttar Pradesh based on demographic data and other factors potentially associated with tree planting decisions. The data were used to develop a binary logistic regression model, to identify which factors influence tree planting decisions. The factors found to correlate positively and significantly with tree planting include size of landholding, overall annual income, area of irrigated land and prior experience with tree planting. It is hypothesized that the lack of significance of other factors including family size and education level was probably due to the relatively homogeneous sample. The result can be used to devise policies to promote tree planting among famers in Uttar Pradesh and possibly other states and other countries.

Understanding forest transition in the Philippines: main farm-level factors influencing smallholder’s capacity and intention to plant native timber trees

The ‘when, where and how’ of decisions by smallholder upland farmers to plant trees as part of their use of natural, human and capital resources needs to be understood if policy support is to result in actual recovery of tree cover as part of a ‘forest transition’ trajectory. In large parts of the Philippines the turning point may be close. Data on resource access and tree planting decisions were gathered from a household survey, with a total of 148 respondents in four rural communities in Leyte Province in Central Philippines. Data were analysed using logistic regression analysis. Household-level results reveal that the outcomes of the decision-making processes primarily depend on the availability of land and access to remaining forest resources rather than socio-cultural or economic factors. The total area of land and number of parcels managed by the household plus security of land tenure through ownership was found to have a statistically significant effect on farmers’ decision to plant native timber trees. Access to surrounding natural forest is negatively associated with farmer tree planting.

Farmers’ Fruit Tree-growing Strategies in the Humid Forest Zone of Cameroon and Nigeria

Many studies have stressed the importance of trees to rural households. Few, however, have focused on actual numbers and densities of trees in different land-use systems. Based on community-level participatory research in six communities, semi-structured household interviews and full-farm fruit tree inventories, this study aims to understand farmers’ tree-planting strategies. Relationships between the diversity, number and density of fruit trees and farm size, land-use system, land tenure, distance from the homestead, proximity to the forest, market access and household characteristics are investigated. The key factors determining the differences in tree-growing strategies between communities appear to be market access, land use and access to forest resources. Within communities, differences between individual households were less easy to explain but tenure was important as was farm size. Smaller farms had higher fruit tree densities, a relationship that was particularly strong in communities with good market access. Overall there was a great deal of variability both within and between communities and many of the factors affecting tree-planting decisions were found to be highly inter-related. Despite this complexity, trees on farm play an important role in rural household's livelihoods. Therefore, expansion of tree cultivation should be recognized as a promising pathway to achieve increased income and food production by policy makers and extensionists alike. In addition to improved tree propagation and management techniques, farmers should be strengthened in the processing and marketing of agroforestry tree products and more emphasis should be placed on the development of tree enterprises. By doing so, farmers will be able to earn a more important and consistent income from fruit trees, contributing to the Millennium Development Goals.

Peasants, agroforesters, and anthropologists: A 20-year venture in income-generating trees and hedgerows in Haiti

This chapter examines the evolving trajectory and emerging lessons from twenty years of agroforestry project activities in Haiti that made it possible for more than 300 000 Haitian peasant households – over a third of the entire rural population of Haiti – to plant wood trees as a domesticated, income-generating crop on their holdings. Unusual popular enthusiasm for the project derived from several anthropological and technical design factors: the adaptation of the project to pre-existing Haitian land tenure, tree tenure, and market systems; the elevation of micro-economic over macro-ecological themes; the decision to bypass the Haitian government and operate the project through local NGOs (non-government organizations); the use of a joint-venture mode in which smallholders supplied land and labor and the project supplied capital in the form of seedlings; the use of professionally managed small-container seedling technology rather than backyard nurseries; and a project management policy that encouraged farmer-induced deviationsfrom project assumptions in matters of tree deployment and harvesting schedules. Issues of secure tree tenure were central to farmer planting decisions. The article discusses how secure tree tenure was possible under the heterogeneous informal arrangements that characterize Haitian peasant land tenure. The approach generated the birth of several creative Haitian peasant agroforestry configurations described in the chapter. In discussing lessons learned, the authors argue that long-term environmental payoffs should be viewed, not as the principal project goal, but as secondary side effects of smallholder tree planting decisions made for short-term micro-economic reasons.

Understanding why farmers plant trees in the homestead agroforestry in Bangladesh

Because trees cover only 6.4% of the total land area of Bangladesh, while agricultural expansion continues to massively deplete the natural forests, a well-managed homestead forestry practice is vital for reversing the existing trend and promoting the ecological balance of the country. An understanding of the decision-making process of the farmers who practice homestead forestry is important in expanding and improving the practice. This paper seeks to characterize and analyze factors influencing farmers' decisions about tree planting. Logistic and multiple regression analyses were applied to determine the factors that influence the farmers' tree-planting decisions. The analyses demonstrate a number of important conclusions: (i) tree-planting increases with the amount of homestead land owned; (ii) farmers whose main source of income is non-agricultural are more likely to decide to plant trees in the homestead; (iii) purchasing cost of fuelwood has a positive influence on tree-planting decisions; (iv) number of male family member has a positive influence on farmers' tree-planting decisions; and (v) knowledge of the activities of the forestry extension programs has a positive influence on tree-planting decisions. The results of the study demonstrate that, in recent years, farmers' decisions of whether or not to plant trees have been based primarily on economic rather than ecological concerns. It is concluded that there is substantial potential for the improvement of homestead forestry, and that properly managed homestead forestry can alleviate the poverty of rural people by increasing overall household income. To this end, it is suggested that forestry extension workers work more closely with the local people in order to implement homestead forestry.

Prices and Tree Planting on Hillside Farms in Palawan

This paper investigates determinants of tree-planting decisions on low-income farms in the Philippines. The analysis quantifies the extent to which agricultural prices, price uncertainty, and farm-specific characteristics help to explain mango-planting decisions on hillside farms. Regression analysis is applied to data on tree planting for 1981–94. Results indicate tree planting is positively correlated with mango prices and negatively correlated with prices of competing crops. Relative price uncertainty and farm size also play important roles in explaining tree-planting patterns. Implications for policies to encourage tree planting are discussed.

Economic policies and the environment: the case of tree planting on low-income farms in the Philippines

This paper investigates the potential for economic policies to influence environmental outcomes in low-income agriculture. The analysis focuses on how changes in agricultural prices influence land-use decisions and environmental indicators. Tree-planting decisions of low-income farmers in the Philippines are examined using a stochastic dynamic household model. Empirical analysis and dynamic simulations demonstrate that changes in relative prices and relative price risks are important determinants of tree-planting decisions. Results show that small holders are sensitive to risks associated with tree crops, but that price risk is not an insurmountable barrier to tree crop adoption. The relationship between cropping patterns and two environmental indicators - erosion and species diversity - are discussed.