Wang, X, Dallimer, M orcid.org/0000-0001-8120-3309, Scott, CE orcid.org/0000-0002-0187-969X et al. (2 more authors) (2021) Tree species richness and diversity predicts the magnitude of urban heat island mitigation effects of greenspaces. Science of The Total Environment, 770. 145211. ISSN 0048-9697
Abstract
The Urban Heat Island Effect (UHIE) is a widely recognised phenomenon that profoundly affects the quality of life for urban citizens. Urban greenspace can help mitigate the UHIE, but the characteristics that determine the extent to which any given greenspace can cool an urban area are not well understood. A key characteristic is likely to be the properties of trees that are found in a greenspace. Here, we explore the sensitivity of the strength of the cooling effect to tree community structure for greenspaces in Changzhou, China. Land surface temperatures were retrieved from Landsat 7 ETM+ and Landsat 8 TIRS and were used to evaluate the temperature drop amplitude (TDA) and cooling range (CR) of 15 greenspaces across each of the four seasons. Tree community structure of the greenspaces was investigated using 156 sample plots across the 15 greenspaces. We found that a number of plant community structure indicators of greenspaces have a significant impact on the strength of the cooling effect. The Shannon-Wiener diversity index, tree species richness and tree canopy coverage of greenspaces are all positively correlated with the magnitude of the temperature drop amplitude, with the strength of their influence varying seasonally. We also find that mean crown width is positively correlated with cooling range in summer and autumn, whilst greenspace tree density is negatively correlated with cooling range in winter. Our findings improve understanding of the relationship between plant community structure and the cooling effect of greenspaces. In particular, we highlight the important role that tree species diversity provides for mitigating the UHIE, and suggest that if planners wish to improve the role of urban greenspaces in cooling cities, they should include a higher diversity of trees species.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. This is an author produced version of an article published in Science of the Total Environment. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | cooling effect; plant community structure; land surface temperature; Shannon-Wiener diversity index; species richness; ecosystem services; tree coverage |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Inst for Climate & Atmos Science (ICAS) (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Sustainability Research Institute (SRI) (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) NE/S015396/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 19 Jan 2021 11:54 |
Last Modified: | 24 Feb 2025 13:23 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145211 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:170137 |