Why trees? There are many benefits of trees affecting everything from the air we breathe to our mental health.
Air Temperature and Energy Consumption
• Trees decrease air temperature and help to offset the "heat island" effect of hardscapes (streets, sidewalks, parking lots, etc.) by providing shade and by transpiration (the release of water vapor into the air).
• A single large tree can release up to 400 gallons of water into the atmosphere each day. Water from roots is drawn up to the leaves where it evaporates. The conversion from water to gas absorbs huge amounts of heat, cooling hot city air.
• Dallas area neighborhoods with mature trees can be up to 11 degrees cooler
than new neighborhoods without trees. A one-degree rise in temperature equals a 2% increase in peak electricity consumption.
Air Quality
• Trees produce oxygen and store carbon dioxide -- just the opposite of humans, which helps to clean and restore our air. They also trap pollutants, such as greenhouse gases, ozone, and particulate matter (dust, smoke, pollen, etc.).
• A typical tree removes 25-45 pounds of carbon from the air each year.
Water/Soil
• Planting trees along the edge of streams, wetlands, and lakes, helps to control storm water runoff.
• Tree canopy, in one study, reduced surface runoff from a one-inch rain over 12 hours by 17%.
• In natural watersheds with trees and vegetation, 5% to 15% of stream flow is delivered as surface storm runoff. In highly developed areas, over 50% of the stream flow is from surface runoff.
• Storm water runoff will decrease as surfaces that allow penetration increase.
Economic, Health, and Psychological Benefits
• Studies from all across the nation show that residential home prices increase from 3% to 20% due to the presence of trees, depending on the type of trees, scarcity of treed lots and the maturity of existing trees.
• Trees in urban settings have a restorative effect that releases the tensions of modern life. Evidence demonstrating the therapeutic value of natural settings has emerged in physiological and psychological studies. The cost of environmental stress in terms of work days lost and medical care can be substantially greater than the cost of providing and maintaining trees, parks, and urban forestry programs.
Other Benefits
• Trees can screen objectionable views, offer privacy, reduce glare and light reflection, offer a sound barrier (acoustical control), and help guide wind direction and speed.
• Trees offer aesthetic functions such as creating a background, framing a view, complimenting architecture, and bringing natural elements into urban surroundings.
• Trees offer unlimited climbing challenges and good physical activity opportunities such as tree swings and tree houses.
• Trees can attract wildlife to an area and help support a biodiversity of animals as well as habitat.
• Bioremediation is the use of biological agents, such as bacteria or plants, to remove or neutralize contaminants in polluted soil or water.
• Trees provide food and shelter for wildlife.
• Numerous trees and plants have proven useful in phytoremediation or removal of toxic materials.
Source: Planting Trees in Dallas
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