Urban Silviculture
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Symposium
Urban Forestry and Respiratory Health: Linking Science to Practice
Engaging Researchers and Stakeholders in Dialogue through
Symposium Presentations and Participant Discussion
Discussion session engaged researchers and practitioners
Recognizing the need for interdisciplinary dialogue focused on the intersection of urban forestry and public health, Cornell University Cooperative Extension-NYC and Cornell University's Department of Horticulture, for the first time, brought stakeholders together to discuss cutting-edge research and application in this emerging new area. Scientists, educators, policy-makers, community leaders and management practitioners, representing multiple departments at Cornell, other academic institutions, government and non-profit organizations, convened at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City to present current research, exchange ideas, and discuss unmet needs and opportunities for collaboration.
Main Conclusions
- Urban landscapes are complex, given multiple and interacting natural and built variables, such as parcelization, built structures, environmental changes, and vestiges of native ecosystems.
- There are multiple benefits and costs of establishing and maintaining trees in urban landscapes, which are impacted by the health, longevity, and location of trees. Context - such as spatial arrangement, juxtaposition, connectivity - is important.
Adrian Benepe, Commissioner of NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, thanks participants for their important work
- There are many emission sources of particulate matter (PM), including transportation, industry, power generation. Given cities' small geographic areas, diversity of pollutants, heat island effect, etc., the chances for secondary reactions are high.
- Epidemiological studies show correlations between atmospheric PM and public health. In many cases communities of color are disproportionately exposed.
- Spatiotemporal distribution of PM sources, deposition, and resuspension is complex. Heterogeneity is high at all scales, making it difficult to predict human exposure in time and space.
- Trees are relatively inefficient filters of fine PM. Given the high inputs of PM and the small area that could be devoted to canopy cover, quantifying the effect of vegetation on ambient PM concentration in cities is especially difficult.
- Policy considerations include tradeoffs and possible source control of emissions and/or changes in behavior. Symposium participants were not aware of colleagues' research in these interdisciplinary areas and expressed interest to continue the dialogue and explore collaborative areas for further study.
Presenters
EcoJustice and the
Urban Forest
Charles Lord, Urban Ecology Institute, Boston
State of NYC's
Urban Forest: Community
Forestry Management case study
Jennifer Greenfeld, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
Needs of the
Urban Designer
Nina Bassuk, Urban Horticulture Institute, Cornell University
The Regulatory
Perspective: State Implementation Plan
Robert Sliwinski, Bureau of Air Quality Planning, Division
of Air Resources, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
Ecosystem Service
Valuation of the Urban Forest
Dave Nowak, US Forest Service, Northern Research Station,
Syracuse
Evidence Linking
Particulate Matter (PM) and Asthma
Katherine Squibb, Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine,
of Maryland School of Medicine
Large Scale Patterns
of PM in the NY Metro Area
Art DeGaetano, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences,
Cornell University
Local Patterns of PM
Max Zhang, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University
Vegetation and PM
Tom Whitlow, Urban Horticulture Institute, Cornell University
Policy to Achieve Goals:
Perspectives from Water Resources Planning
Stuart Schwartz, Center for Urban Environmental Research
and Education, University of Maryland, Baltimore County