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Ecohydrology of street trees: Design and irrigation requirements for sustainable water use

Publication ,  Journal Article
Vico, G; Revelli, R; Porporato, A
Published in: Ecohydrology
January 1, 2014

Whereas the beneficial effects of urban vegetation have long been recognized, growing conditions in urban environments, especially for street trees, are typically harsh and limited by low water availability. Supplemental irrigation may be used to preserve aesthetic quality and ability to provide ecosystem services of urban vegetation but requires careful management of available economic and water resources to reduce urban water footprint. To this purpose, decision makers need quantitative tools, requiring few, physically based parameters and accounting for the uncertainties and future scenarios of the hydroclimatic forcing. Focusing on in-row and isolated trees, a minimalist description of street tree water balance is proposed here, including rainfed and irrigated conditions, and explicitly accounting for tree water requirements, growing conditions (in terms of soil properties and extension of bare soil, permeable and impervious pavements surrounding the tree) and rainfall unpredictability. The proposed model allows the quantification of tree cooling capacity, water stress occurrence and irrigation requirements, as a function of soil, plant and climate characteristics, thus providing indications regarding the tree ability to provide ecosystem services and management costs. In particular, an analysis of different planting designs suggests that a balanced design consisting in bare soil and permeable pavement with size equal to the lateral canopy extension is optimal for water conservation, tree cooling capacity and health. The proposed model provides useful indications towards the definition of site-specific guidelines for species selection and planting design, for sustainable urban vegetation. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Published In

Ecohydrology

DOI

EISSN

1936-0592

ISSN

1936-0584

Publication Date

January 1, 2014

Volume

7

Issue

2

Start / End Page

508 / 523

Related Subject Headings

  • 41 Environmental sciences
  • 31 Biological sciences
  • 30 Agricultural, veterinary and food sciences
  • 07 Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences
  • 06 Biological Sciences
  • 05 Environmental Sciences
 

Citation

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Vico, G., Revelli, R., & Porporato, A. (2014). Ecohydrology of street trees: Design and irrigation requirements for sustainable water use. Ecohydrology, 7(2), 508–523. https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.1369
Vico, G., R. Revelli, and A. Porporato. “Ecohydrology of street trees: Design and irrigation requirements for sustainable water use.” Ecohydrology 7, no. 2 (January 1, 2014): 508–23. https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.1369.
Vico G, Revelli R, Porporato A. Ecohydrology of street trees: Design and irrigation requirements for sustainable water use. Ecohydrology. 2014 Jan 1;7(2):508–23.
Vico, G., et al. “Ecohydrology of street trees: Design and irrigation requirements for sustainable water use.” Ecohydrology, vol. 7, no. 2, Jan. 2014, pp. 508–23. Scopus, doi:10.1002/eco.1369.
Vico G, Revelli R, Porporato A. Ecohydrology of street trees: Design and irrigation requirements for sustainable water use. Ecohydrology. 2014 Jan 1;7(2):508–523.
Journal cover image

Published In

Ecohydrology

DOI

EISSN

1936-0592

ISSN

1936-0584

Publication Date

January 1, 2014

Volume

7

Issue

2

Start / End Page

508 / 523

Related Subject Headings

  • 41 Environmental sciences
  • 31 Biological sciences
  • 30 Agricultural, veterinary and food sciences
  • 07 Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences
  • 06 Biological Sciences
  • 05 Environmental Sciences