《Ecosystem services and valuation of urban forests in China》.pdf

Cities 26 (2009) 187–194 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Cities journal homepage: www.else /locate/cities Ecosystem services and valuation of urban forests in China C.Y. Jim *, Wendy Y. Chen Department of Geography, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: Urban forests are integral components of urban ecosystems, which could generate significant ecosystem Received 21 October 2008 services, such as offsetting carbon emission, removing air pollutants, regulating the microclimate, and Received in revised form 4 March 2009 recreation. These ecosystem services contribute to improving environmental quality, quality of life, Accepted 23 March 2009 and sustainable urban development. Despite a long history of inserting vegetation in human settlements Available online 17 May 2009 in China, modern scientific study of this natural-cum-cultural resource did not start until the 1990s. Spe- cifically, the identification and valuation of ecosystem services provided by urban forests are relatively Keywords: new but fast growing research fields. This paper reviews studies on the major ecosystem services pro- Urban forest vided by urban forests in China, including microclimatic amelioration (mainly evapotranspiration-cool-