Please note that this session was withdrawn and is no longer available in the respective programme. This withdrawal might have been the result of a merge with another session.
CL3.2.2 | Urban trees - Global change impacts on the ecology and functioning of urban environments
EDI
Urban trees - Global change impacts on the ecology and functioning of urban environments
Convener: Valentina VitaliECSECS | Co-conveners: Greg King, Kaisa A. RissanenECSECS, Arthur Geßler, Liisa Kulmala
As of 2020, 56% of the world’s population live in urban areas, expecting urban greenery to deliver numerous ecosystem services including mitigation of urban heat island effects, reduction of air pollution, reduction of energy use, interception of stormwater, provisioning of habitats for wildlife and pollinators, but also provide aesthetic, recreational, and psychological benefits. However, our knowledge of the ecology of urban trees is still limited, in particular regarding their interaction with the complex urban system, characterized by numerous anthropogenic stressors (e.g. soil compaction, mechanical wounding, excess irrigation, salinity, etc.), and their capacity to acclimate to a changing climate. Through changes in temperature, VPD, water availability and disease or pathogen outbreaks, climate change is going to affect tree vitality in the already stressful urban environments, undermining the provisioning of ecosystem services. Therefore, extensive research is needed to understand species acclimation capacities and plasticity for the future of urban trees. In this session, we aim to bring together the latest advancement in the understanding of growth and tree functioning in urban environments and further research of the urban ecosystem. We welcome contributions of the impact of environmental change, pollutants, or past and pathogens on the growth and physiology of trees in urban ecosystems, or on projections of how planted trees can be expected to perform in various urban environments in the future.