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iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry

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Microclimate regulating functions of urban forests in Changchun City (north-east China) and their associations with different factors

Wenjie Wang (1-2)   , Hongyuan Wang (1-2), Lu Xiao (1-2), Xingyuan He (2), Wei Zhou (1-2), Qiong Wang (2), Chenhui Wei (2)

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 11, Issue 1, Pages 140-147 (2018)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor2466-010
Published: Feb 07, 2018 - Copyright © 2018 SISEF

Research Articles


Microclimate regulating functions of urban trees and their associations with environmental factors and tree-growth characteristics are important for management and ecological evaluations. In this study, a total of 637 trees distributed in the Changchun urban region (ca. 400 km2, northeastern China) were sampled in four different types of urban forests (AF: affiliated forests; RF: roadside forests; LF: landscape and relaxation forests; EF: ecological welfare forests). Tree growth-related parameters and environmental factors (inside and outside the forest) were simultaneously measured, and location-dependent differences in shading, cooling and humidifying effects were assessed, along with their associations with the measured variables. We found that urban forests in Changchun reduced the incident sunlight by 74-86% and increased air relative humidity by 3-7%, on average. Air, soil, and upper-canopy temperatures were decreased approximately by 3 °C, <1 °C and 1 °C, respectively, showing a 3-dimensional cooling effect of urban forests on both air and soil. Shading, cooling and humidifying effects significantly differed among the four forest types, with AF stands showing the highest comprehensive scores for all the microclimate regulation functions. Regression analyses and redundancy analysis revealed that urban forests had much stronger effect in terms of microclimate regulation at sunny days with high temperature, and low air humidity. In general, stands with larger trees showed the higher regulating functions, regardless of the stand structure and composition. The results of this study may help urban forest management and planning aimed at maximizing their ecological services.

  Keywords


Urban Forest Types, Shading Effect, Cooling Effect, Humidifying Effect

Authors’ address

(1)
Wenjie Wang
Hongyuan Wang
Lu Xiao
Wei Zhou
Key Laboratory of Forest Plant Ecology, Ministry of Education, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040 (China)
(2)
Wenjie Wang
Hongyuan Wang
Lu Xiao
Xingyuan He
Wei Zhou
Qiong Wang
Chenhui Wei
Northeast Institute of Geography and Agricultural Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102 (China)

Corresponding author

 
Wenjie Wang
wangwenjie@iga.ac.cn

Citation

Wang W, Wang H, Xiao L, He X, Zhou W, Wang Q, Wei C (2018). Microclimate regulating functions of urban forests in Changchun City (north-east China) and their associations with different factors. iForest 11: 140-147. - doi: 10.3832/ifor2466-010

Academic Editor

Raffaele Lafortezza

Paper history

Received: Apr 20, 2017
Accepted: Nov 21, 2017

First online: Feb 07, 2018
Publication Date: Feb 28, 2018
Publication Time: 2.60 months

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