ABSTRACT

Sustainable urban water management initiatives are increasingly required to combat rapid urbanization and climate pressures. Initiatives include the role of tree planting, for which there is a need for strong evidence of benefits and drawbacks to support effective future planning. We report on the robustness of evidence from an assimilated database of urban hydrological impact studies which often had differing primary purposes. Consistent impacts were found at the local level, with trees reducing runoff and infiltration. Despite the consistency of evidence, much is undermined by the studies being somewhat lacking in robustness and scientific rigour. Many studies lack adequate controls, and models are often not strongly tested against observations. Moreover, evidence of impact at larger scales is lacking. Effects of tree characteristics were also investigated, such as maturity and species (for which evidence is consistent and detailed) and arrangement (for which there is less evidence). Realizing the full potential of trees in urban water management decision-making would benefit from more rigorous evidence.

摘要

越来越需要可持续的城市水资源管理举措来应对快速的城市化和气候压力。倡议包括植树的作用，为此需要强有力的利弊证据来支持有效的未来规划。我们报告了来自城市水文影响研究的同化数据库的证据的稳健性，这些研究通常具有不同的主要目的。在地方层面发现了一致的影响，树木减少了径流和渗透。尽管证据具有一致性，但由于研究缺乏稳健性和科学严谨性，这在很大程度上受到了破坏。许多研究缺乏足够的控制，并且模型通常没有针对观察进行强有力的测试。此外，缺乏更大规模影响的证据。还研究了树木特征的影响，例如成熟度和物种（证据一致且详细）和排列（证据较少）。实现树木在城市水资源管理决策中的全部潜力将受益于更严格的证据。