Urban forests and green infrastructure are increasingly recognized as key components of climate-resilient and low-carbon cities. Through carbon sequestration and storage, regulation of surface energy and water exchanges, shading and evapotranspiration, urban vegetation can contribute simultaneously to climate change mitigation and adaptation, while also providing important benefits for human health and well-being. However, the magnitude and persistence of these benefits depend on complex interactions among vegetation structure and functioning, climate, urban morphology, land-use dynamics and management practices.
This session aims to advance understanding of the role of urban forests and vegetation in regulating carbon dynamics and urban microclimate, bringing together observational, modelling and remote-sensing perspectives across spatial and temporal scales. We welcome contributions addressing carbon uptake, storage and greenhouse-gas balances of urban vegetation; vegetation–atmosphere exchanges; evapotranspiration and cooling processes; urban heat-island mitigation; tree responses to heat, drought and other climatic extremes; and interactions between carbon sequestration, water use and cooling benefits.
The session also welcomes studies exploring how urban expansion, land-use change, vegetation configuration and management influence the long-term mitigation and adaptation potential of urban forests, as well as approaches integrating Earth Observation, in-situ monitoring, process-based modelling, machine learning and digital twins to assess present and future urban vegetation dynamics.
By connecting carbon-cycle science, urban climatology, ecophysiology, Earth Observation and in-situ observations, and urban planning, the session seeks to improve our capacity to quantify the multiple climate, environmental and societal benefits of urban forests and to identify strategies for designing and managing greener, healthier, more resilient and climate-neutral cities.