Reliable models of urban tree growth over time are useful for selecting appropriate species for available planting sites, anticipating future tree maintenance and removal costs, and quantifying the benefits provided by trees. There is a need to develop growth models for multiple cities within the same climate region to understand the degree of variability for the same species in different cities. In this study, we developed tree growth models for 13 common street tree species in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, based on field data and planting records. These models relate tree age to diameter at breast height. Then we compared the modeled tree growth curves for Cincinnati to analogous models from nearby Indianapolis, Indiana. To estimate how differences in modeled tree growth translate to differences in ecosystem services, we compared annual ecosystem service estimates from Cincinnati and Indianapolis using the i-Tree Eco model. The comparisons showed varying levels of difference between cities; for example, modeled growth curves for Acer platanoides were nearly identical, while models for Pyrus calleryana differed by > 47% over 35 years of growth. These results advance our understanding of urban tree growth rates by comparing models from two nearby cities, and by underscoring the inherent variability in urban tree growth that will drive attendant differences in the ecosystem services provided by trees.

可靠的城市树木随时间增长的模型对于选择可用树种的合适树种，预测未来树木的维护和清除成本以及量化树木提供的效益非常有用。需要为同一气候区域内的多个城市开发增长模型，以了解不同城市中同一物种的变异程度。在这项研究中，我们根据田野数据和种植记录为美国俄亥俄州辛辛那提的13种常见街道树种开发了树木生长模型。这些模型将树龄与乳房高度处的直径相关联。然后，我们将辛辛那提（Cincinnati）的模拟树木生长曲线与附近印第安纳州印第安纳波利斯（Indianapolis）的类似模型进行了比较。要估算模拟树木生长的差异如何转化为生态系统服务的差异，我们使用i-Tree生态模型比较了辛辛那提和印第安纳波利斯的年度生态系统服务估算。比较显示城市之间的差异程度各不相同；例如，为在35年的增长中，白桦宏call几乎完全相同，而梨木梨的模型差异超过了47％。这些结果通过比较附近两个城市的模型，并强调城市树木生长的内在变异性（将导致树木提供的生态系统服务随之而来的差异），加深了我们对城市树木生长速率的理解。