Chicago's evolving urban forest: Initial report of the Chicago Urban Forest Climate Project, 1993. Forest Service general technical report (Final)

Technical Report · Thu Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI ID:6596940

McPherson, E G; Nowak, D J; Sacamano, P L; Prichard, S E; Makra, E M

The report traces the history of Chicago's landscape as it has evolved from a mixture of prairie, wetlands, and oak-hickory forests into a major metropolis. An analysis of 1987 aerial photographs indicates that Chicago-area tree cover has increased from a presettlement level of about 13 percent to nearly 20 percent today. Street trees predominate in Chicago's residential areas, where buildings and paving restrict tree cover in many off-street locations. Larger percentages of tree cover were found for off-street trees in suburban Cook and DuPage Counties. Chicago's urban climate is associated with increases in rainfall and flooding, summertime temperatures and air conditioning use, and unhealthy levels of ozone. The potential of urban vegetation to improve environmental quality is reviewed and the Chicago urban Forest Climate Project research plan is described.

• Research Organization: Forest Service, Radnor, PA (United States). Northeastern Forest Experiment Station
• OSTI ID: 6596940
• Report Number(s): PB-93-174050/XAB; FSGTR-NE--169
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540110*
540210 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Basic Studies-- (1990-)
AIR CONDITIONING
AIR QUALITY
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION
BIOMASS
BUILDINGS
CHICAGO
CLIMATIC CHANGE
DATA
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ECOSYSTEMS
ENERGY SOURCES
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
FORESTS
HISTORICAL ASPECTS
HYDROLOGY
ILLINOIS
INFORMATION
LAND USE
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NORTH AMERICA
NUMERICAL DATA
OZONE
PLANNING
PLANTS
QUALITY ASSURANCE
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
RESIDENTIAL SECTOR
ROADS
STATISTICAL DATA
TREES
URBAN AREAS
US DOA
US FOREST SERVICE
US ORGANIZATIONS
USA
WETLANDS