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Houston's Regionalforest

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Houston's Regionalforest HOUSTON’S REGIONAL FOREST STRUCTURE ■ FUNCTIONS ■ VA LU E S SEPTEMBER 2005 For more information on this project, please contact: PETER D. SMITH Texas Forest Service [email protected] 979-458-6650 MICHAEL MERRITT Texas Forest Service [email protected] 713-688-8931 DAVID NOWAK, Ph.D. U.S. Forest Service [email protected] 315-448-3212 DAVID HITCHCOCK Houston Advanced Research Center [email protected] 281-364-4007 HOUSTON’S REGIONAL FOREST STRUCTURE ■ FUNCTIONS ■ VALUES The population in and around Houston has grown rapidly over the past twenty years, now exceeding five million people. Studies of the area have noted that the loss of trees and changes to the forest makeup have gener- ally accompanied this growth. Trees and urban forestry practices can be Tused effectively to reduce many of the negative effects of urban growth and other changes occurring in the region. These include reducing urban heat island effects, mitigating negative health and environmental impacts, and improving the overall quality of life. In 2001, the USDA Forest Service approved funding for a special project to build the tools and systems that will help state and local groups monitor and guide the development of the area’s green infrastructure. Houston’s Regional Forest project brought federal and state government researchers together with local planners, policy makers, and managers to analyze the region’s tree cover using field research and computer modeling. This report is one of the major outcomes of this project. It provides detailed informa- tion on the structure, functions, and values of Houston’s regional forest. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Contributors to this project include: David J. Nowak, PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR, USDA FOREST SERVICE, NORTHEASTERN RESEARCH STATION (NERS) Peter D. Smith, TEXAS FOREST SERVICE Michael Merritt, TEXAS FOREST SERVICE John Giedraitis, TEXAS FOREST SERVICE Jeffrey T. Walton, USDA FOREST SERVICE, NERS Robert E. Hoehn, USDA FOREST SERVICE, NERS Jack C. Stevens, USDA FOREST SERVICE, NERS Daniel E. Crane, USDA FOREST SERVICE, NERS Mark Estes, TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Stephen Stetson, GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, INC. Charles Burditt, BURDITT NATURAL RESOURCE CONSULTING David Hitchcock, HOUSTON ADVANCED RESEARCH CENTER Wendee Holtcamp, HOUSTON ADVANCED RESEARCH CENTER This analysis quantifies some of Executive these functions including air pollu- tion removal, carbon storage, and Summary energy savings. The report does not include other important for- Whether viewed from the pine for- est functions such as quality of life ests to the northeast, the bottom- services to humans, habitat for wild- land hardwoods that line bayous life, storm water management, and and streams, or the trees that dot the flood prevention. Wprairie land to the west, tree cover is one of the defining features of the Forest values are the quantified eco- eight-county region surrounding nomic values of the forest functions the city of Houston. Houston’s Re- mentioned above—air pollution re- gional Forest: Structure • Functions moval, carbon storage, energy sav- • Values examines in detail some ings—plus the replacement value of of the crucial characteristics of this the forest. Other studies have mea- green infrastructure. sured values such as health benefits, property value increases, and flood- This new understanding of Hous- water retention. ton’s regional forest is based on satel- lite imagery, field data, and comput- er modeling using the Urban Forest MAJOR FINDINGS & CONCLUSIONS Effects Model (UFORE), which ana- Houston’s regional forest provides lyzes the structure, environmental impressive value to its citizens. The effects, and values of urban forests.1 replacement cost alone of the 663 Field surveys completed in 2001 and million trees found in the region 2002 provided input into this model is valued at over $205 billion. The and included data from 332 field value of the environmental benefits plots throughout the region located generated by trees each year is esti- within residential, commercial, for- mated at $456 million and forests ested, and agricultural areas. also store $721 million worth of A forest’s structure consists of vari- ous tree species, density, health, leaf area, biomass, species diversity, The and other elements that make up replacement the forest. This report summarizes the structure of Houston’s regional cost alone forest, providing a snapshot of the forest resources as well as a detailed of the 663 examination of where trees are lo- million cated by species. Using extensive trees found field surveys and satellite data, this analysis provides the most complete in the understanding of Houston’s forest region is structure to date. valued Forest functions include a wide range at over of environmental, ecosystem, and related services that trees and forests perform, some of which are highly $205 billion. valued by those living in the region. 2 Table 1 Summary of Findingsa FEA T U R E MEASUR E Number of trees 663 million Trees under five inches in diameter 472 million (71% of trees) Trees in non-urban land cover classes 579 million (87% of trees) Most common native tree loblolly pine (19% of trees) Most common non-native tree chinese tallow (23% of trees) Oak species 15% of trees Replacement value $205.8 billion Carbon storage value $721 million Annual environmental value $456 million Forest land cover b 28.4% of total land area Forest land cover change: 1992-2000 -486 square miles (-17%) Primary forest threat land use change a All data is year 2001 and 2002, unless indicated otherwise. bForest land cover type = tree canopies plus unforested areas in the immediate vicinity total carbon. These benefits are dif- cent of the environmental benefits. ferent for rural and urban areas: re- Therefore, protecting the region’s placement and carbon storage values large trees is essential for producing are greater in rural areas due to the future benefits. large number of trees, while energy savings and environmental benefits Land use change, non-native tree are greater where the human popula- species, and insect pests pose sig- tion is concentrated. nificant threats to the future of the regional forest. Actions that sig- The forests of the Houston area are nificantly alter land surfaces have diverse, but also very different in reduced the number and density of the northern and southern parts of trees while providing opportunities the region. Area forests contain 67 different tree species. The highly di- The Houston metropolitan region includes verse North Forest covers a greater the City of Houston—the nation’s fourth largest city—and the area and has larger trees, with lob- eight surrounding counties: lolly pine the single most common Brazoria species. The South Forest includes Chambers Fort Bend forests dominated by cedar elm, Galveston sugarberry, and hawthorn as well as Harris Liberty remnant tracts of Columbia bottom- Montgomery land hardwood forests. Common to Waller all land cover types, Chinese tallow represents the single most common for invasive species and pest out- species, amounting to almost 23 breaks. Land use change continues percent of the region’s trees. to pose the biggest threat: between 1992 and 2000, forest land cover Large trees are disproportionately types in the region declined by an important in terms of forest ben- estimated 17 percent—a decrease of efits. The majority of the region’s 486 square miles, resulting in a net 663 million trees are small: over 70 loss of over 78 million trees. Out- percent are less than five inches in breaks of insect pests represent a diameter. Although trees five inch- potential threat to forests that would es and greater in diameter make up cause significant economic and en- less than 30 percent of the region’s vironmental losses. trees, they provide over 60 per- 3 Urban Forest Effects Model The Urban Forest Effects Model provides accurate estimates of ur- (UFORE) is a computer model ban forest effects based on credible that calculates the structure, envi- scientific research and analysis. ronmental effects and values of ur- Tban forests. It was developed in the A central computing engine houses 1990s by researchers at the United an integrated suite of computer pro- States Department of Agriculture grams that make scientifically sound (USDA) Forest Service, Northeast- estimates of urban forest effects. ern Research Station in Syracuse, These programs are based on peer- New York, and has been used exten- reviewed scientific equations to ac- sively in various places in the U.S. curately predict environmental and and abroad. Using land cover maps economic benefits. and field survey inputs, the model The UFORE model is currently designed to provide estimates of: � ■ Urban forest structure by land cover type. Forest structure data in- cludes such variables as species composition, number of trees, diameter, tree density, tree health, leaf area, and biomass of leaves and trees. � ■ Hourly amount of pollution removed by the urban forest and associ- ated percent air quality improvement throughout the year. Pollution removal is calculated for ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and particulate matter 10 microns or less in size. � ■ Hourly urban forest volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and the relative impact of tree species on net ozone and carbon monoxide formation throughout the year. � ■ Total carbon stored and net carbon annually sequestered. � ■ Effects on building energy use and consequent effects on carbon diox- ide emissions from power plants. � ■ Replacement
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