The contribution of trees and urban forests to ecosystem services and biodiversity in Coventry

The aim of this project is to make an ecosystem service assessment of trees in Coventry using an iTree Eco survey and data collected on biodiversity. Trees provide a number of environmental and social benefits in urban areas and are an important feature of urban planning. iTree Eco puts a value on carbon storage and sequestration, reduced run-off and pollution removal by trees using data on tree species, DBH (diameter at breast height) and height, along with local climate and pollution data. This delivers an overview of the ecosystem services that a selected group of trees can provide. However, iTree Eco does not assess biodiversity. Trees create habitats and food sources for a range of species, thus demonstrating their significance for urban biodiversity. This project will measure the biodiversity of birds, bats and invertebrates using a subset of plots selected from Coventry’s iTree Eco survey. The biodiversity data will be combined with the results from iTree Eco to make an overall ecosystem service assessment of Coventry’s trees.