The provision of ecosystem services is a prominent rationale for urban greening, and there is a prevailing mantra that ‘trees are good’. However, understanding how urban trees contribute to sustainability must also consider disservices. In this perspective article, we discuss recent research on ecosystem disservices of urban trees, including infrastructure conflicts, health and safety impacts, aesthetic issues, and environmentally detrimental consequences, as well as management costs related to ecological disturbances and risk management. We also discuss tradeoffs regarding species selection and local conservation concerns, as well as the central role of human perception in the interpretation of ecosystem services and disservices, particularly the uncritical assertion that ‘everybody loves trees’. Urban forestry decision-making that fails to account for disservices can have unintended negative consequences for communities. Further research is needed regarding life cycle assessments, stakeholder decision-making, return-on-investment, and framings of services and disservices in urban forestry.

提供生态系统服务是城市绿化的一个突出理由，人们普遍认为“树好”。然而，了解城市树木如何促进可持续发展还必须考虑到损害。在这篇前瞻性文章中，我们讨论了关于城市树木生态系统损害的最新研究，包括基础设施冲突、健康和安全影响、美学问题和环境有害后果，以及与生态干扰和风险管理相关的管理成本。我们还讨论了物种选择和当地保护问题的权衡，以及人类感知在解释生态系统服务和损害方面的核心作用，特别是“每个人都爱树木”的不加批判的主张。未能考虑到损害的城市林业决策可能会给社区带来意想不到的负面后果。需要对城市林业的生命周期评估、利益相关者决策、投资回报以及服务和损害的框架进行进一步的研究。