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General Technical Report
Title: Tropical community tree guide: benefits, costs, and strategic planting
Author: Vargas, Kelaine E.; McPherson, Gregory E.; Simpson, James R.; Peper, Paula J.; Gardner, Shelley L.; Xiao, Qingfu
Date: 2008
Source: Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-216. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station. 109 p
Station ID: GTR-PSW-216
Description: Even as they increase the beauty of our surroundings, trees provide us with a great many ecosystem services, including air quality improvement, energy conservation, stormwater interception, and atmospheric carbon dioxide reduction. These benefits must be weighed against the costs of maintaining trees, including planting, pruning, irrigation, administration, pest control, liability, cleanup, and removal. We present benefits and costs for representative small, medium, and large trees in the Tropical region derived from models based on indepth research carried out in Honolulu, Hawaii. Average annual net benefits increase with tree size and differ based on location: $9 (public) to $30 (yard) for a small tree, $43 (public) to $79 (yard) for a medium tree, $70 (public) to $92 (yard) for a large tree. Two hypothetical examples of planting projects are described to illustrate how the data in this guide can be adapted to local uses, and guidelines for maximizing benefits and reducing costs are given.
Key Words: Ecosystem services, Tropical region, urban forestry, benefit-cost analysis
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Citation
Vargas, Kelaine E.; McPherson, Gregory E.; Simpson, James R.; Peper, Paula J.; Gardner, Shelley L.; Xiao, Qingfu 2008. Tropical community tree guide: benefits, costs, and strategic planting Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-216. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station. 109 p.