Urban forests through space and time

城市树木和森林在英国城镇的自然和文化环境中发挥着重要作用[Davies et al., 2017]。然而，由于缺乏对冠层覆盖率的直接观测，我们对这一作用随时间演变的理解受到限制[Doick等人，2020]。该项目将通过融合过去两个世纪的数据来源，为英国城市树冠覆盖范围的变化以及树木提供的好处提供新的视角。该项目将重点研究两个具有不同发展历史的城市，利兹和爱丁堡。两个城市的地方政府都宣布了气候紧急状态；作为减缓和适应气候变化战略的一部分，利兹的目标是到2050年将目前的树冠覆盖率提高一倍，爱丁堡的目标是到2030年成为“百万树城”。了解这两个城市树冠覆盖的历史演变，以及获取树冠覆盖的途径，将有助于为未来植树的目的、规模和位置提供信息。

Urban trees and forests play an important role in both the physical and cultural environment of the UK's towns and cities [Davies et al., 2017]. However, our understanding of the way this role has evolved over time is limited by a lack of direct observations of canopy coverage [Doick et al., 2020]. This project will shed new light on changes to the extent of tree canopy cover, and access to the benefits provided by trees, in UK cities through a fusion of data sources spanning the past two centuries. The project will focus on two case study cities, Leeds and Edinburgh, with contrasting development histories. The local authorities governing both cities have declared climate emergencies; as part of their climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, Leeds has ambitions to double its current tree canopy cover by 2050 and Edinburgh has a commitment to become a 'million tree city' by 2030. Understanding the historical evolution of canopy coverage, and access to it, in the two cities will help inform the purpose, scale and location of future tree planting.