Abstract Cultural heritage sites are exposed to urban environmental phenomena and various forms of deterioration that degrade their historical and cultural value. As an important element, plant landscaping can be a potential regulator of the microenvironment, mitigating the adverse effect of the local climate to cultural heritage. The influence of evergreen trees on the weathering deterioration of the Nanjing City Wall was studied and evaluated through field measurements and numerical modeling. A two-dimensional hygrothermal ‘City Wall–plant’ model was developed to simulate the shaded and unshaded surfaces. The results showed that compared to the unshaded case, the shaded surface showed smaller temperature fluctuations with an increase in the minimum temperature by 0.5°C-0.8 °C, smaller water content fluctuations with the standard deviation decreasing by 0.017 kg/kg at the height of 0.15 m, and a lower evaporation rate by 8–18%. This means that evergreen trees can effectively reduce the risk of deterioration on wall surfaces due to freeze–thaw cycles, efflorescence, and subflorescence. These findings provide the theoretical basis for the sustainable preservation of sites with cultural heritage.

中文翻译：

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城市植物环境在古城墙可持续保护中的作用

摘要 文化遗产地暴露于城市环境现象和各种形式的退化，从而降低其历史和文化价值。作为一个重要元素，植物景观可以成为微环境的潜在调节器，减轻当地气候对文化遗产的不利影响。通过实地测量和数值模拟研究和评估常绿乔木对南京城墙风化恶化的影响。开发了二维湿热“城墙-植物”模型来模拟阴影和非阴影表面。结果表明，与无阴影情况相比，有阴影的表面温度波动较小，最低温度增加0.5°C-0.8°C，水含量波动较小，0.15 m高度处标准差下降0.017 kg/kg，蒸发率下降8-18%。这意味着常绿乔木可以有效降低因冻融循环、风化和亚花期而导致墙体表面退化的风险。这些发现为文化遗产遗址的可持续保护提供了理论依据。