i-Tree is a collection of urban and rural

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

analysis and benefits assessment tools. It was designed and developed by the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...

to quantify and value

ecosystem services Ecosystem services are the many and varied benefits to humans provided by the natural environment and healthy ecosystems. Such ecosystems include, for example, agroecosystems, forest ecosystem, grassland ecosystems, and aquatic ecosystems. ...

provided by trees including pollution removal,

carbon sequestration Carbon sequestration is the process of storing carbon in a carbon pool. Carbon dioxide () is naturally captured from the atmosphere through biological, chemical, and physical processes. These changes can be accelerated through changes in lan ...

, avoided carbon emissions, avoided

stormwater runoff Surface runoff (also known as overland flow) is the flow of water occurring on the ground surface when excess rainwater, stormwater, meltwater, or other sources, can no longer sufficiently rapidly infiltrate in the soil. This can occur when the s ...

, and more. i-Tree provides baseline data so that the growth of trees can be followed over time, and is used for planning purposes. Different tools within the i-Tree Suite use different types of inputs and provide different kinds of reports; some tools use a 'bottom up' approach based on tree inventories on the ground, while other tools use a 'top down' approach based on

remote sensing Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring information about Eart ...

data. i-Tree is peer-reviewed and has a process of ongoing collaboration to improve it. There are seven different i-Tree applications which can enhance an individual's or organization's understanding of the benefits which trees provide in modern society. Over the course of many years the U.S. Forest Service has developed and refined these different applications: i-Tree Eco, i-Tree Landscape, i-Tree Hydro, i-Tree Design, i-Tree Canopy, i-Tree Species, and i-Tree MyTree.

History

i-Tree began in 2002 as survey of a sample of urban forest to simulate taking a

tree inventory A tree inventory is the gathering of accurate information on the health and diversity of a community forest. Uses Tree inventories focus on the attributes of individual trees, as compared to a forest inventory which seek to assess timber attrib ...

of an entire urban forest. It then added hand held devices for efficient inventory of street trees. The current version of i-Tree includes different tools which allow for several sources of data to be used, such as National Land Cover Data, Google Maps, and tree inventories. Some tools use continuous data on air pollution and meteorology for more accurate results.

Research

Researchers using i-Tree have examined: * The benefits of urban trees * Selecting the best tree planting locations * Storm damage to urban forests * Potential bird habitats * PM2.5 removal and health effectNowak, 2013.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

*
Center for Urban Forest Research
{{Forestry, state=collapsed Environmental science software Forest modelling Natural resources Urban forestry