The Sustainable Urban Forest: A Step-by-Step Guide for Urban Forest Managers
U.S. Urban Forest Statistics
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U.S. Urban Forest Statistics David J. Nowak US Forest Service Syracuse, NY
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All urban forests are not created equal. Urban forests and their ecosystem services and values vary across the U.S. depending upon location. The presentation will illustrate the following urban forest statistics for the U.S. by state: Past and future urban growth Building energy conservation, avoided emissions and value Air pollution removal, health effects and value Urban forest carbon storage, sequestration and value Tree cover, number of trees, leaf area and biomass, potential waste wood and leaf drop, and structural value
Transcript of U.S. Urban Forest Statistics
U.S. Urban Forest Statistics
David J. NowakUS Forest Service
Syracuse, NY
Year Urban (48)
1990 47.3 (2.5%)
2000 58.6 (3.1%)
2010 67.8 (3.6%)
~VT+NH
~NJ+MA
1) Past urban land increase (1990-2010): +1 million acres/year > 2,700 acres / day
Million Acres
Delaware land area = 1.2 million acres
Urban / community land (2010) = 138 million acres (50 states)
Urban (2010)
Most Urbanized States
%Urban %UC Acres Urban Acres UC
NJ 39.8 NJ 45.8 TX 5.6M AK 16.3MRI 38.7 RI 43.2 CA 5.3M CA 9.9MMA 38.0 CT 42.9 FL 4.8M TX 9.3MCT 37.7 MA 41.5 GA 3.1M FL 7.1MDE 20.9 MD 27.4 PA 3.0M AZ 5.6M
MN 2.2 (31)MN 5.8 (28)MN 1.1M (25) MN 2.9M (17)
Urban Growth Pattern (1990-2000)
Urban Growth Pattern (2000-2010)
Average Growth Pattern (1990-2010)
2) Projected urban land increase (2010-2060): +2 million acres/year
Urban land (conterminous U.S.)2010 = 67.8 million acres (3.6%)2060 = 165.1 million acres (8.7%)Increase greater than size of Montana
Urban (1990)
Urban (2000)
Urban (2010)
Urban (2020)
Urban (2030)
Urban (2040)
Urban (2050)
Urban (2060)
Growth in Percent Urban (2010 – 2060)
3) % Urban Tree Cover > % Rural Tree CoverPercent Tree Cover
State State Urban RuralConnecticut 72.6 66.5 75.9Massachusetts 70.8 64.5 74.4New Hampshire 88.9 64.0 91.5Maine 83.1 54.0 84.4Rhode Island 70.3 54.0 82.0Alabama 70.0 53.0 71.5Vermont 81.5 53.0 82.3Georgia 66.4 52.0 67.7New Jersey 57.0 50.4 59.8North Carolina 62.6 48.2 63.9
Idaho 37.9 13.0 38.2New Mexico 19.1 12.0 19.2Nevada 11.6 12.0 11.6Montana 27.5 9.0 27.4Wyoming 14.5 9.0 14.4US(48) 34.2 35.0 34.1
Nowak and Greenfield, 2012. Tree and impervious cover in the United States. Landscape and Urban Planning 107: 21-30.
23.7 million acres of urban tree cover in US
Difference – Urban vs. Rural Tree Cover
4) Residential and Vacant / Open Space:~ 75% of Urban Tree Cover
Percent of Total Tree Cover in Cities by Land Use
Forest(40% TC)
Grass(20% TC)
Desert(10% TC)
5) Billions of Trees = Trillions of $Number of urban trees = 4.9 billion
15 trees per person
Asset / structural value = $4.1 trillion$12,900 per person
Above ground d.w. biomass = 1.3 billion tonsWaste wood (2% mortality) = 26 million tons
6) Leaves are ImportantTotal leaf area = 176,000 sq. miles (> CA)Total leaf biomass = 39 million tons
22.9 million t C715,000 t N310,000 t K67,000 t P
7) Carbon EffectUS urban forests
704 million tons of carbon stored ($50.5 billion)28 million tons of carbon sequestered per year ($2 billion/year)
Nowak, D.J., E.J. Greenfield, R. Hoehn, and E. LaPoint. 2013. Carbon storage and sequestration by trees in urban and community areas of the United States. Environmental Pollution. 178: 229-236.
Urban Storage and Sequestration (tonnes)
Rate = kg/m2 tree cover per yearStorage = $50.5 billion; Sequestration = $ 2 billion/yr
8) Air Pollution Removal and Health EffectsU.S. urban forests
717,000 tons/year ($4.7 billion/year)Impact, reduction in incidences of:
~580 deaths / year~580 emergency room visits / year~330,000 asthma exacerbations / year~485,000 acute respiratory symptoms / year
Nowak, D.J. S. Hirabayashi, E. Ellis and E.J. Greenfield. 2014. Tree and forest effects on air quality and human health in the United States. Environmental Pollution 193:119-129
Annual Pollution Removal Distribution
9) National Building Energy Conservation36 million MWh energy production avoided annually ($4.3 billion)228 million MBTU energy production avoided annually ($2.9 billion)Pollutant Tonnes avoided/year $ millions/year
Carbon dioxide 19,800,000 425
Carbon monoxide 16,200 26
Course PM 1,720 97
Fine PM 4,190 590
Methane 459 0.2
Nitrogen oxides 17,100 161
Sulfur dioxide 45,300 405
VOCs 1,100 1
Total 1,705
Preliminary results
State Energy SavingsState Saving ($ millions/yr)
Texas 808
Florida 642
Illinois 441
California 361
New York 348
South Dakota 27
New Mexico 22
Vermont 18
Idaho 16
Wyoming 13
US(48) 7,217
10) U.S. Urban Forest Annual ValuesAvoided energy use = $7.2 billionAir pollution removal = $4.7 billionCarbon sequestration = $2.0 billionAvoided emissions = $1.7 billionTotal = $15.6 billion
$760 per acre of tree cover
Current carbon storage value = $50.5 billion
