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This Research Report looks at a broad range of urban forest-based ecosystem services and disservices and, using a literature review, links their provision with four aspects of urban forests (physical scale, physical structure and context in terms of location and proximity to people and land use and ownership). A key...

Woodlands and trees have a wide-ranging role in the economy, but this is often under-valued in conventional economic indicators. For example, woodlands deliver social and environmental benefits – such as outdoor access, biodiversity and carbon sequestration – which are largely unpriced in economic transactions but which have important impacts on...

Timber is a versatile and high performance construction material that can be produced in most parts of the UK. This second edition of ‘Sustainable construction timber’ has been written to help building designers and contractors source and specify local timber products. The report explains why local sourcing of timber is...

Shake (internal splitting of the wood in a growing tree) is believed to affect and devalue around one-fifth of British oak crops. There is currently no fully reliable method to identify the defect in standing trees, or to predict vulnerable sites and stands without local knowledge and historical data. Shake...

Evidence indicates that woodland creation is generally a cost-effective method of climate change mitigation, when compared with a range of alternatives. However, engaging landowners and land managers in woodland creation schemes can sometimes prove difficult, and this affects prospects for meeting national woodland planting targets and associated climate change mitigation...

Ecosystem services refer to the benefits or outputs that people derive from ecosystems. Following the publication of the UK National Ecosystem Assessment there has been a growing interest in assessing the flows of such services and valuing the contribution they make to human well-being. This Research Report draws upon recent...

A substantial body of literature, including government policies, acknowledges the important role of greenspace in sustainable development and the creation of attractive and economically vibrant communities. Greenspace refers to the natural environmental components (green and blue spaces) that lie within and between a region’s cities, towns and villages. This Research...

Forests are popular places for recreation, but some activities can have negative impacts on wildlife. Land managers have to balance delivery of the social and economic benefits derived from outdoor recreation with nature conservation objectives. This literature review provides an overview of potential disturbance issues and a guide to the...

Comparing the cost-effectiveness of different climate change mitigation measures is essential in minimising the cost of meeting national greenhouse gas reduction targets. The costs of different measures and their potential to reduce emissions or sequester greenhouse gases can be depicted using a Marginal Abatement Cost Curve. Previous studies have shown...

Forests and woodlands represent a substantial stock of carbon that is contained in soil, trees and other vegetation. They are a key component of the global carbon cycle and their effective management, at both global and regional scales, is an important mechanism for reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Understanding...

Our urban forests, the trees and woodlands in and around our towns and cities, provide numerous environmental, economic and social benefits. As the most important single component of green infrastructure these trees have a vital role to play in promoting sustainable communities. In April 2011, for the first time in...

Adaptive forest management is a systematic process for continually improving forest management, in conditions of complexity and uncertainty, by learning from the outcomes of experiments and operational practice. Adaptive management has often been proposed as a suitable approach for dealing with uncertainty and complexity in natural systems, particularly in relation...