Abstract Trees provide important ecosystem services and benefits, with some, such as air pollutant and heat reductions, being linked to improved human health and well-being. The uneven distribution of tree cover in urban areas and subsequently the ecosystem services and benefits it provides has potential implications related to environmental justice, especially if disadvantaged socio-demographic or socio-economic and marginalized communities lack these services and benefits. This study explores the distribution of ecosystem services and benefits provided by tree cover in the Bronx, NY. Utilizing census block group specific spatial datasets, we employ a Mann-Kendall trend test and the Sen slope estimator to describe the relationship between median income, per capita income, percent minorities, population density, poverty percent and total educational attainment, and carbon storage and sequestration, stormwater runoff reduction, air pollutant removal and heat index reduction ecosystem services and benefits for 2010 tree cover conditions. We explore the equality in ecosystem service and benefit distributions across socio-demographic and socio-economic subgroups using the Atkinson inequality and Theil entropy indices decomposed into within and between subgroup inequalities for each ecosystem service and benefit. These inequality indices allow us to better assess current inequalities and work to achieve greater equity in the distribution of ecosystem services. Using population and ecosystem service data, all ecosystem services and benefits appear to be unequally and inequitably distributed in the Bronx, with disadvantaged socio-demographic and socio-economic block groups receiving disproportionately lower ecosystem services from urban trees. The vast majority of the inequality is explained by variations within each socio-demographic and socio-economic subgroup rather than variations between subgroups. To reduce this inequity, efforts should be made to strategically increase services and benefits by initially targeting disadvantaged block groups with extremely low tree cover.

中文翻译：

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纽约布朗克斯城市森林生态系统服务和收益的公平性

摘要 树木提供重要的生态系统服务和益处，其中一些，例如减少空气污染物和热量，与改善人类健康和福祉有关。城市地区树木覆盖的不均匀分布及其随后提供的生态系统服务和利益对环境正义具有潜在影响，特别是如果处于不利地位的社会人口或社会经济和边缘化社区缺乏这些服务和利益。本研究探讨了纽约布朗克斯区树木覆盖所提供的生态系统服务和收益的分布。利用人口普查区块组特定的空间数据集，我们采用 Mann-Kendall 趋势检验和 Sen 斜率估计器来描述收入中位数、人均收入、少数民族百分比、人口密度、贫困百分比和总教育程度、碳储存和封存、减少雨水径流、去除空气污染物和减少热量指数的生态系统服务和 2010 年树木覆盖条件的收益。我们使用 Atkinson 不等式和 Theil 熵指数来探索生态系统服务和社会人口和社会经济子组之间的利益分配的平等，这些指数分解为每个生态系统服务和利益的子组内部和之间的不平等。这些不平等指数使我们能够更好地评估当前的不平等，并努力在生态系统服务的分配中实现更大的公平。使用人口和生态系统服务数据，所有生态系统服务和利益似乎在布朗克斯区分布不均、不公平，处于不利地位的社会人口和社会经济街区群体从城市树木中获得了不成比例的较低生态系统服务。绝大多数不平等是由每个社会人口和社会经济子群体内部的差异而不是子群体之间的差异来解释的。为减少这种不公平现象，应首先针对树木覆盖率极低的弱势街区群体，努力从战略上增加服务和收益。