Using i-Tree Eco™ to evaluate and maximize ecosystem services following urban floodplain buyouts

Keywords: flooding, hazards, non-structural mitigation, property acquisition, tree planting, vacant land
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

Municipalities are increasingly participating in floodplain buyout programs to reduce the risk and severity of flood damages. Municipalities have converted buyout landscapes to parks or restored wetland ecosystems after acquisition. These active land management strategies provide vital social and ecological benefits to the surrounding area. Municipalities have also taken more passive land management approaches after acquisition. It is common for buyout properties to remain vacant. While vacant landscapes provide ecosystem services, more active management strategies, such as greening the landscape, could maximize these important benefits. Urban trees located on buyout properties can serve as a proxy for the evaluation of ecosystem services. Trees provide multiple benefits to communities, including carbon storage and sequestration, stormwater attenuation, air pollution removal, oxygen production, and urban heat island mitigation. The purpose of this research is to understand if an active management approach focused on increasing the number of trees across a buyout landscape would maximize ecosystem services. We measured 345 trees across a buyout landscape in Arlington, Texas, and calculated their ecosystem services using i-Tree EcoTM. Next, we created a geographic information system to assess available planting space and modeled four planting scenarios based on the existing urban forest configuration. Scenario modeling indicated that planting at least 75% of the available space (719 trees) would maximize ecosystem services. The results of this research suggest that floodplain buyouts are not just an effective tool for mitigating flood hazards; they also provide opportunities to increase ecosystem services for the local community and wider municipality.