TDAG Research Project on Physical Benefits of Trees

The Trees and Design Action Group (TDAG) have launched a new project to collect and review research to date on the physical benefits of urban trees. The project will identify what is and what is not known about such benefits, and how best to improve our knowledge.

A TDAG statement described the state of research to date:

Some considerable research has been and continues to be carried out on the physical benefits of urban trees in the UK, the rest of Europe and beyond. However, initial surveys of the literature suggest that, while some areas have already been well covered, the work has been carried out by many isolated groups of researchers and consequently there has been no overall methodological framework, or even consistent physical basis for their investigations. In addition, some of the benefits have only been modelled, not investigated by experiment, while in many other cases only generic benefits of “typical” trees have been quantified with little investigation of the influence of tree species or cultivation techniques. The result is that, while there is good deal of literature, it is often quite inaccessible to practitioners and the general public. It is also hard to judge its quality and it rarely seems to tackle the questions they want to ask – which trees are best and how should they be grown to provide the greatest physical benefits? The result is that some important areas of research continue to be neglected while in others research is needlessly replicated or carried out using flawed methodologies.

Project Delivery

The work will be carried out by Dr. Mohammad Rahman, whose PhD was on the subject of the effect of tree species and cultivation on the cooling benefits of urban trees and supervised by Prof. Roland Ennos (an authority on the physical benefits of urban trees). Prof Ennos said:

“We are delighted to undertake this work. A huge amount of thought and energy goes into research, but all too often the results simply don’t get through to the people who really need it – the practitioners. We aim to review the literature and let people know clearly and concisely what is known, and perhaps even more importantly, what is not known about the physical benefits of urban trees. This will also help researchers focus on important problems rather than repeating work that has already been done.”

The project is supported by Fund4Trees, UK charity promoting sustainable treescapes. Fund4Trees Chair, Dr. Gabriel Hemery, said:

“We are supporting this project as there is evidently a need to compile the very best existing evidence about the importance of our urban trees, and to review quantitatively any benefits which arise”. He continued “not only that, but we are aware that the identification of knowledge gaps is much-needed, and these will help steer our own support for urban tree research in future as much as it will that of the wider research community.”

Results of the new TDAG project will be published as online resources, as well as in peer-reviewed journals and in a stand-alone report.