Assessing biodiversity, composition, and distribution of the tree species in the urban forest (case study: Tabriz)

Document Type : Scientific article

Authors

1 PhD. Candidate, School of Environment, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, I. R. Iran.

2 Associate Prof., School of Environment, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, I. R. Iran.

Abstract

This research attempted to assess and provide information about biodiversity and distribution of urban tree species by applying several biodiversity indices, including richness, per area estimates of number of species, Shannon-Wiener, Menhinick, Simpson diversity, Shannon-Wiener evenness indexes, evenness index and Sander’s rarefaction technique and also analyzing native and exotic species using i-Tree Eco model both at the city scale and land use classes. Forty-eight species identified among the city. It is estimated that Tabriz had 192800 trees with the 9.4% tree cover. There were 3.6 trees per hectare. The Shannon-Wiener, Menhinick, Simpson diversity and Shannon-Wiener evenness indexes calculated as 2.9, 1, 12 and 0.8 for the whole city, respectively. The green space and agricultural lands had the highest richness. Commercial, transportation and industrial land (CTI) included the most species per hectare. Also, residential areas had the highest value of Shannon-Wiener and Menhinick diversity indexes. The 37.5% of the species was endemic to Azerbaijan.

Keywords

References

- Alvey, A.A., 2006. Promoting and preserving biodiversity in the urban forest, Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 5(4): 195–201.
- Asgarzadeh, M., K. Vahdati, M. Lotfi, M. Arab, A. Babaei, F. Naderi, M. Pir Soufi & G. Rouhani, 2014. Plant selection method for urban landscapes of semi-arid cities (a case study of Tehran), Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 13(3): 450–458.
- Attar, F., B. Hamzeh & H. Maroofi, 2014. Flora of Iran. Research Institute of Forest and Rangeland, Iran, 252 p.
- Banj Shafiei, A., K. Samadzadeh, N. Seyedi & A. Alijanpour, 2016. Study of qualitative, quantitative and risk possibility of Plane trees of Urmia, Journal of Forest Research and Development, 1(4): 319-335. (In Persian)
- Barker, P.A., 1975. Ordinance Control of Street Trees, Journal of Arboriculture, 1: 212–216.
- Baró, F., L. Chaparro, E. Gómez-Baggethun, J. Langemeyer, Nowak, D.J & J. Terradas, 2014. Contribution of ecosystem services to air quality and climate change mitigation policies: The case of urban forests in Barcelona, Spain, Ambio, 43(4): 466–479.
- Bassuk, N., D.F. Curtis, B.Z. Marranca & B. Neal, 2009. Recommended urban trees: site assessment and tree selection for stress tolerance. Urban Horticulture Institute, Cornell University, Newyork, 128 p.
- Belle, G.V., 2008. Statistical rules of thumb, second Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc, Hoboken, New Jersey, 304p.
- Blood, A., G. Escobedo. F.A. Chappelka & C. Staudhammer, 2016. How do urban forests compare? Tree diversity in urban and periurban forests of the southeastern US, Forests, 7(6): 1–15.
- Colding, J., J. Lundberg & C. Folke, 2006. Groups green-area user incorporating management ecosystem, Ambio, 35(5): 237–244.
- Cornelis, J. & M. Hermy, 2004. Biodiversity relationships in urban and suburban parks in Flanders, Landscape and Urban Planning, 69(4): 385–401.
- Cumming, G.S., P. Olsson, F.S. Chapin & C.S. Holling, 2013. Resilience, experimentation, and scale mismatches in social-ecological landscapes, Landscape Ecology, 28(6): 1139–1150.
- Duinker, P.N., C. Ordóñez, J.W.N. Steenberg, K.H. Miller, S.A. Toni & S.A. Nitoslawski. 2015. Trees in Canadian cities: Indispensable life form for urban sustainability, Sustainability, 7(6): 7379–7396.
- Escobedo, F.J., T. Kroeger & J.E. Wagner, 2011. Urban forests and pollution mitigation: Analyzing ecosystem services and disservices, Environmental Pollution, 159(8–9): 2078–2087.
- Faal-Khah, I., R. Ramezani Kakroudi, A. Alijanpour & A. Banj Shafiei, 2017. The effect of spacing on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of black poplar (Populus nigra L.), Journal of Forest Research and Development, 2(4): 337-351. (In Persian)
- Flora-iran, 2014. Available from http://www.flora-iran.com/plant-families-iran.html. Accessed 10th February 2019.
- Frank, S., G. Waters, R. Beer & P. May, 2006. An analysis of the street tree population of greater Melbourne at the beginning of the 21st century, Arboriculture & Urban Forestry, 32(4): 155–163.
- Gómez-Baggethun, E. & D.N. Barton, 2013. Classifying and valuing ecosystem services for urban planning, Ecological Economics, 86: 235–245.
- Gómez-Baggethun, E., A. Gren, D.N. Barton, J. Langemeyer, T. McPhearson, P. O’Farrell & P. Kremer, 2013. Urban Ecosystem Services. In: T. Elmqvist, M., J. Fragkiasm, B. Goodness, P.J.Güneralp, R. Marcotullio, I. McDonald & C. Wilkinson (Eds.), Urbanization, biodiversity and ecosystem services: challenges and opportunities: a global assessment. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, pp. 175–251.
- Grey, G.W. & F.J. Deneke, 1986. Urban forestry. Krieger Pub Co, 299 p.
- Grimm, N. B., S.H. Faeth, N.E. Golubiewski, C.L. Redman, J. Wu, X. Bai & J. M. Briggs, 2008. Global change and the ecology of cities global change and the ecology of cities, Science, 319(5864): 756–760.
- Groffman, P.M., J. Cavender-Bares, N.D. Bettez, J.M. Grove, S.J. Hall, J.B. Heffernan, S.E. Hobbie, K.L. Larson, J.L. Morse, C. Neill & K. Nelson, 2014. Ecological homogenization of urban USA, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 12(1): 74–81.
- Hermy, M. & J. Cornelis, 2000. Towards a monitoring method and a number of multifaceted and hierarchical biodiversity indicators for ruban susburban parks, Landscape and Urban Planning, 49: 149–162.
Hitchmough, J., 2011. Exotic plants and plantings in the sustainable, designed urban landscape. Landscape and Urban Planning, 100(4): 380–382.
IMO, 2016. Dataset on hourly precipitation in Tabriz. Iran Meteorological organization (IMO), East Azerbaijan, Iran.
- i-Tree Eco International Projects, 2016. Eco Guide to International Projects. i-Tree, USDA Forest Service, 18 p.
- i-Tree Eco User’s manual, 2016. I-Tree Eco User’s Manual, I-Tree Tools, i-Tree, USDA Forest Service, 86 p.
- i-Tree Field Guide, 2016. I-Tree Eco Field Guide, USDA Forest Service, 57 p.
- Jafari Afrapoly, M., K. Sefidi, S.M. Waez-Mousavi & S. Varamesh, 2018. Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of dead trees in English yew (Taxus baccata) in Afratakhteh Forests, Golestan Province, and northeastern Hyrcanian forests, Journal of Forest Research and development, 4(3): 305-316.
- Jafari, A., 2016. A research on trees and shrubs species richness and diversity in Shahrekord green space (case study: Ayatollah-Kashani Boulevard), Environmental Researches, 7(13): 77–84. (In Persian)
- Jafarisarabi, H., B. Pilehvar, K. Abrarivajari & S.M. Waezmousavi, 2018. Changes of understory species diversity and richness in relation to overstory and some edaphic factors in central Zagros forest types, Journal of Forest Research and Development, 4(2): 207-221. (In Persian)
- Jayasooriya, V.M., A.W.M. Ng, S. Muthukumaran & B.J.C. Perera, 2017. Green infrastructure practices for improvement of urban air quality. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 21: 34–47.
- Jim, C.Y. & W.Y. Chen, 2009. Diversity and distribution of landscape trees in the compact Asian city of Taipei, Applied Geography, 29(4): 577–587.
- Kendal, D., C. Dobbs & V.I. Lohr, 2014. Global patterns of diversity in the urban forest: Is there evidence to support the 10/20/30 rule?, Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 13(3): 411–417.
- Khezri, S.S., A. Alijanpour, O. Hosseinzadeh & M. Erfanian, 2017. Site selection for forest park using multi-criteria decision approach in the Darreh Shohada region, Urmia, Journal of Forest Research and Development, 3(2): 133-146. (In Persian)
- Kuruneri-Chitepo, C. & C. M. Shackleton, 2011. The distribution, abundance and composition of street trees in selected towns of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 10(3): 247–254.
- Lepczyk, C.A., M.F.J. Aronson, K.L. Evans, M.A. Goddard, S.B. Lerman & J.S. Macivor, 2017. Biodiversity in the city: fundamental questions for understanding the ecology of urban green spaces for biodiversity conservation, BioScience, 67(9): 799–807.
- Li, W., Z. Ouyang, X. Meng & X. Wang, 2006. Plant species composition in relation to green cover configuration and function of urban parks in Beijing, China, Ecological Research, 21(2): 221–237.
- Mace, G.M., K. Norris & A.H. Fitter, 2012. Biodiversity and ecosystem services: A multilayered relationship, Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 27(1): 19–25.
- Magurran, A.E., 1988. Ecological diversity and its measurement. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 179 p.
- Menhinick, E.F., 1964. A comparison of some species-individuals diversity indices applied to samples of field insects, Ecology, 45(4): 859–861.
- Mikulanis, V., 2014. Phoenix, Arizona project area, community forest assessment. Davey resource group and western region office, 45p.
- Miller, R.H. & R.W. Miller, 1991. Planting survival of selected street tree taxa, Journal of Arboriculture, 17(7): 185–191.
- Mokaram Kashtiban, S., R. Mousavi Mirkala & J. Eshaghi-Rad, 2018. Effect of traditional utilization on woody species composition and diversity through detrended correspondence analyses in the Sardasht forests (West Azerbaijan Province), Journal of Forest Research and Development, 4(3): 363-376.
- Moll, G., 1989. Improving the health of the urban forest. In: G. Moll & S. Ebenreck (Eds.), A Resource guide for urban and community forests, Island Press, Washington, pp. 119–130.
- Montgomery, M., 2008. The urban transformation of the developing world, Science, 319(5864): 761–764.
- Morgenroth, J., J. Östberg, C. Konijnendijk, A.B. Nielsen, R. Hauer, H. Sjöman, W. Chen & M. Jansson, 2016. Urban tree diversity- taking stock and looking ahead, Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 15: 1–5.
- Mozaffarian, V., 2005. Trees and shrubs of Iran. Farhang Moaser, 1050 p.
- Nagendra, H. & D. Gopal, 2010. Street trees in Bangalore: Density, diversity, composition and distribution, Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 9(2): 129–137.
- Nagendra, H. & D. Gopal, 2011. Tree diversity, distribution, history and change in urban parks: Studies in Bangalore, India, Urban Ecosystems, 14(2): 211–223.
- Nitoslawski, S., 2016. Managing and enhancing urban tree diversity: a comparison of suburban development in two Canadian cities, M.Sc. thesis, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 133 p.
- Nowak, D.J., 2013. A guide to assessing urban forests. US Department of agriculture, Forest service, Northern research station, 4 p.
- Nowak, D.J., 2019. Understanding i-Tree: summary of programs and methods, USDA Forest service, i-Tree, 310p.
- Nowak, D.J., D.E. Crane, J.C. Stevens, R.E. Hoehn, J.T. Walton & J. Bond, 2008. A ground-based method of assessing urban forest structure and ecosystem services, Arboriculture and Urban Forestry, 34(6):347–358.
- Nowak, D.J., J.T. Walton, J.C. Stevens, D.E. Crane & R.E. Hoehn, 2008. Effect of plot and sample size on timing and precision of urban forest assessments, Arboriculture and Urban Forestry, 34(6): 386-390.
- Nowak, D.J., A. Cumming, D. Twardus, R. Hoehn, C. Oswalt & T. Brandeis, 2011. Urban forests of Tennessee. U.S. Department of agriculture forest service, Southern research station. Report number: NC 28804, 60p.
- Nowak, D.J., R. Hoehn, A.R. Bodine, D.E. Crane, J.F. Dwyer, V. Bonnewell & G. Watson, 2013. Urban trees and forests of the Chicago region. U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station. Report number: NRS-84, 114p.
- Nowak. D.J., A.R. Bodine, R.E. Hoehn, C.B. Edgar, G. Riley, D.R. Hartel, K. Dooley, S. Stanton, M. Hatfield, T. Brandeis & T.W. Lister, 2017. Houston’s urban forest, 2015. U.S. Forest Service, 100p.
- Oleyar, M.D., A.I. Greve, J.C. Withey & A.M. Bjorn, 2008. An integrated approach to evaluating urban forest functionality, Urban Ecosystems, 11(3): 289–308.
- Pace, M. & T. Sales, 2012. Mesquite urban forest ecosystem analysis. Regional urban forester, Texas A&M Forest Service. 32p.
- PARD, P., 2014. Plano urban forest ecosystem analysis. Preservation Tree and Plano city of excellence. 35p.
- Parker, I. M., D. Simberloff, W.M. Lonsdale, K. Goodell, M. Wonham, M., P.M. Kareiva, M.H. Williamson, B.M.P.B. Von Holle, P.B. Moyle & J.E. Byers, 1999. Impact: toward a framework for understanding the ecological effects of invaders, Biological Invasions, 1(1): 3–19.
- Pérez, L., J. Sunyer & N. Künzli, 2009. Estimating the health and economic benefits associated with reducing air pollution in the Barcelona metropolitan area (Spain). Gaceta Sanitaria, 23(4): 287-294.
- Piroozy, F., J. Soosani, K. Adeli, R. Maleknia, H. Naghavi & R. Hossinzadeh, 2018. The comparison of forest structure in Oak stands with different density and mixture (Case study: Noyjian forests of Khorramabad), Journal of Forest Research and Development, 4(1): 15-28. (In Persian)
- Raupp, M. J., A.B. Cumming & E.C. Raupp, 2006. Street tree diversity in eastern North America and its potential for tree loss to exotic borers, Arboriculture and Urban Forestry, 32(6): 297–304.
- Sanders, R. A., 1981. Diversity in the street trees of Syracuse, New York, Urban Ecology, 5(1): 33–43.
- Santamour, F.S., 1990. Trees for urban planting: diversity, uniformity, and common sense. In: Elevitch, C. The overstory book: cultivating connections with trees, Permanent Agriculture Resources, USA, pp. 396-399.
- Selmi, W., C. Weber, E. Rivière, N. Blond, L. Mehdi & D. Nowak, 2016. Air pollution removal by trees in public green spaces in Strasbourg city, France. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 17(2): 192–201.
- Simpson, E.H. 1949. Measurement of diversity, Nature, 163(4148): 688.
- Sjöman, H., A. Gunnarsson, S. Pauleit & R. Bothmer, 2012. Selection approach of urban trees for inner-city environments: learning from nature, Arboriculture and Urban Forestry, 38(5): 194–204.
- Sjöman, H., J. Östberg & O. Bühler, 2012. Diversity and distribution of the urban tree population in ten major Nordic cities, Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 11(1): 31–39.
- Smiley, E.T., J.J. Kielbaso & T.J. Proffer, 1984. Maple disease epidemic in southeastern Michigan, Journal of Arboriculture, 12(5): 126–128.
- Statistical Center of Iran, 2016. Population and Housing Censuses, Censuses 2016. Available from https://www.amar.org.ir/english/Population-and-Housing-Censuses. Accessed 28th March. (In Persian)
- Statistical yearbook of Tabriz, 2016. Human planning and development branch, Municipality of Tabriz, 340 p. (In Persian)
- Subburayalu, S. & T.D. Sydnor, 2012. Assessing street tree diversity in four Ohio communities using the weighted Simpson index, Landscape and Urban Planning, 106(1): 44–50.
- Sun, Q., 1992. Quantifying species diversity of streetside trees in our cities, Journal of Arboriculture, 18(2): 91–93.
- UFORE., 2010. i-Tree ecosystem analysis Washington, urban forest effects and values. USDA forest service, i-Tree group. 18p.
- United Nations, 2014. World urbanization prospects: The 2014 tevision, highlights. New York, United States. 517p.
- Weatherspark, 2018. Available from https://weatherspark.com/y/104056/Average-Weather-in-Tabriz-Iran-Year-Round. Accessed 10th February 2019.
- WMKC (World Maps of Koppen-Geiger Climate Classification), 2019. Available from http://koeppen-geiger.vu-wien.ac.at/. Accessed 19th February 2019.
Forest Research and Development
Volume 6, Issue 1
June 2020
Pages 87-105

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics