Urban forests and pollution mitigation: analyzing ecosystem services and disservices

Area of Science:

• Urban ecology
• Environmental management
• Environmental economics

Background:

• Urban forests provide vital ecosystem services, including pollution mitigation.
• Assessing the full impact of urban forests requires considering both benefits (services) and drawbacks (disservices).

Purpose of the Study:

• To integrate ecosystem services and disservices for evaluating urban forest pollution mitigation efficacy.
• To adapt existing typologies for urban forest management contexts.
• To highlight challenges in assessing urban forest pollution control capabilities.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of ecosystem services and disservices.
• Adaptation of economic and ecological definitions to urban forestry.
• Case examples of air quality and carbon sequestration services.

Main Results:

• Urban forests provide measurable pollution mitigation services like air quality improvement and carbon sequestration.
• The assessment of these services is complex, influenced by scale, context, and management intensity.
• Ecosystem disservices associated with urban forests are also relevant but less studied in pollution mitigation contexts.

Conclusions:

• Integrating ecosystem services and disservices provides a more comprehensive assessment framework for urban forests.
• Effective urban forest management for pollution mitigation necessitates considering social, economic, and ecological factors.
• Future strategies should address trade-offs and co-benefits for urban sustainability.