Mapping Ecosystem Services, Disservices, and Ecological Requirements to Enhance Urban Forest Planning and Management in Padova

In Padova, the municipal department of green infrastructure monitors the urban forest through a continuously updated database that stores information about locations, species, dimensions, health conditions, and management of more than 47,000 trees. The aim of the research presented in this chapter was to support urban forest planning and management by integrating the existing database with information about ecosystem services, disservices, and the ecological requirements of trees. We combined a quantitative analysis through i-Tree Eco with a qualitative assessment based on literature review and expert knowledge, and filled in 17 new fields for each tree in the database. Then, through a GIS, we investigated the spatial distribution of the analysed features across the city, thus revealing inequalities among different areas and mismatches with citizens’ preferences and needs. The enhanced database could potentially become a powerful tool, not only to identify and prioritize management interventions, but also, in a longer term perspective, to identify strategic goals with a view to coordinating local actions, thus ensuring a sustainable development of the urban forest and an equitable provision of ecosystem services to present and future generations.