Tropical Community Tree Guide: Benefits, Costs, and Strategic Planting - Paperback

by Forest U. S. Department of Agriculture (Author)

Even as they increase the beauty of our surroundings, trees provide us with a great many ecosystem services, including air quality improvement, energy conservation, stormwater interception, and atmospheric carbon dioxide reduction. These benefits must be weighed against the costs of maintaining trees, including planting, pruning, irrigation, administration, pest control, liability, cleanup, and removal. We present benefits and costs for representative small, medium, and large trees in the Tropical region derived from models based on indepth research carried out in Honolulu, Hawaii. Average annual net benefits increase with tree size and differ based on location: $9 (public) to $30 (yard) for a small tree, $43 (public) to $79 (yard) for a medium tree, $70 (public) to $92 (yard) for a large tree. Two hypothetical examples of planting projects are described to illustrate how the data in this guide can be adapted to local uses, and guidelines for maximizing benefits and reducing costs are given.