Research themes

Because research in urban forestry is still relatively young, much needs to be done to build the underlying scientific foundation of urban forestry so that it can answer the most pressing questions. This includes establishing and maintaining efficient and resilient urban forest that provide the maximum benefit without compromising the functioning of grey infrastructure (roads, sidewalks, sewers, electrical lines, etc.); this is one of the most important objectives for Ufor. The current and planned research of our members and collaborators is already addressing the priority needs and concerns of our partners and is at the forefront of what is being done worldwide.

Examples of topics addressed by Ufor members

1. Resilience of the urban tree cover in the face of global change using the latest advances in functional ecology phylogenetics and pest/pathogen biology.
2. New modeling and remote sensing tools to help design resilient urban trees and forests to global changes.
3. New tree pruning approaches in urban settings that minimize costs and maximize social acceptability.
4. Better urban forest governance and planning and better assessment tools for urban forest and their benefits.
5. Better understanding of plant-soil relations and tree species interactions belowground, soil biodiversity, carbon sequestration, water infiltration, and above/belowground interactions in urban areas.
6. Connectivity among urban forest to facilitate the movement and maintenance of wildlife and development of landscape connectivity to determine bottlenecks to species movement into cities.