Sustainable trees to promote sustainable cities in a changing climate

Urban trees deliver many ecosystem services, and most services rely on large and healthy trees. With climate change, it is important to plant tree species in cities that can survive challenging growing conditions, above all heat waves, drought and flooding. Our aim is to evaluate tree species for their suitability for future urban environments of Northern Europe.
We identify stress tolerance of various tree traits in greenhouse and field experiments in Gothenburg, Sweden. The long-term responses of trees to climate change and climate stress are assessed by modelling. The public is asked about their preferences of tree species, and we will identify trees species that are both climate-smart and attractive. For practitioners, we will develop a science-based guide for urban tree selection.