The influence of building renovation and rental housing on urban trees |
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Authors: | James W N Steenberg Pamela J Robinson Andrew A Millward |
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Institution: | 1. Environmental Applied Science and Management, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada;2. School of Urban and Regional Planning, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada;3. School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada;4. School of Urban and Regional Planning, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada;5. Urban Forest Research and Ecological Disturbance (UFRED) Group, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada |
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Abstract: | Urban forest ecosystems are complex and vulnerable social–ecological systems. The relationship between urban forests and housing is particularly variable and uncertain. We examine the influence of building renovation and rental housing on public trees at the parcel and street-section scale in a residential neighbourhood in Toronto, Canada. We use empirical data describing multiple tree inventories and government open data describing building permit applications to test for effects on urban forest structure, tree mortality, and tree planting. We found that the presence and number of building permits significantly predicted mortality at both scales, while planting was positively correlated with building permits at the street-section scale only. Multi-unit parcels had significantly lower rates of planting than single-unit parcels and multi-unit housing was positively correlated with mortality at the street-section scale. These findings suggest that where concentrated changes in housing stock are occurring, substantial losses of trees and associated ecosystem services are possible. |
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Keywords: | urban forest housing building permit mortality open data |
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