TREE BENEFITS

Why worry about trees?

According to the Atlanta Urban Tree Canopy Study, trees provide numerous benefits:

• Trees shade and cool paved surfaces and buildings, helping mitigate the “Urban Heat Island” effect while reducing energy demands.
• Trees clean particulates from the air and soil, which helps decrease air and water pollution.
• Trees provide a stormwater management service by intercepting rainfall that would otherwise flow directly into water bodies and the drainage system, causing streambank erosion, and potentially overwhelming the stormwater system, especially in areas with combined storm and sanitary sewers.
• Trees provide habitat for native pollinators, migrating birds, and other important wildlife.
• Trees make neighborhoods and urban areas more livable by providing aesthetic, social, and psychological benefits for residents.
• For many residents and visitors, Atlanta’s mature and vibrant urban tree canopy is its signature environmental feature.

Go to iTree and use multiple free tools to calculate the benefits of the trees around you. i-Tree delivers current, peer-reviewed tree benefits estimation science from the USDA Forest Service to all types of users with free tools and support.

Resources

iTree

2018 City of Atlanta Urban Tree Canopy Assessment and Change Analysis (2008-2018)