ABSTRACT
Understanding the environmental, economic, and social/community benefits of nature, in particular trees and forests, can lead to better vegetation management and designs to optimize environmental quality and human health for current and future generations. Structure is a key variable as that is what managers manipulate to influence forest services and values. There are two basic means to quantify urban forest structure: top-down aerial-based approaches; or bottom-up ground-based assessments. For large tree populations, field data in conjunction with aerial based assessments will likely provide the best and most cost-effective means to assess forest structure. By understanding how vegetation affects numerous services, values and costs, better decisions can be made relating to landscape management to improve environmental quality and human health. To this end, tools can be used that incorporate local data to estimate ecosystem services and its economic value to help guide management and sustain optimal vegetation structure through time.
