Surely you have come across a monumental tree , maybe in an urban park or the the city center. We are used to talk about the long tree lifespan, but trees are not forever! That is what a new research published on Nature Communications said: the inverse relationship between tree growth speed and their lifespan is now a certainty!

For LIFE Clivut Project that is surely a great finding. So, starting from that point: how do ecosystem services change from a new plantation and a monumental one in the urban green?

This research crossed growth datas of more than 110 trees coming from several climate and Countries all over the world. As Gianluca Piovesan, who takes part in the research, said "a slowly growing species is less susceptible to biotic and/or abiotic stress. Moreover, it seems that every species has is own "limit diameter dimension" of the trunk from which the tree is more exposed to external stress. Since climate change is real and trees can help us to mitigate it through CO2 stock, it is essential studying a stategic plan: planting slow growing species or switching to fast growing ones? From what we said above the answer should be slow-growing trees!

Actually, it is not so easy: particularly in cities we have to find a compromise. Since particulates and CO2 are increasing, a fast-growing species can easily help us, safeguarding environmental and public health. In the meanwhile, moving in that direction means plannig the plantation of right species, their maintainance and their substitution over time too. LIFE Clivut team is studying what is tree lifespan in the cities to plan a good management of urban green.

Published December 27th