Building the resilience of the urban forest: the Australian story

Urban forests provide a multitude of ecosystem services for our cities and their inhabitants, from temperature reduction and stormwater management to habitat for biodiversity, and improved health and wellbeing. To ensure these services are maximised, cities require healthy and resilient urban forests. Increased temperatures and shifts in rainfall patterns as well as new pests and diseases due to climate change are putting pressure on our existing urban forest. To understand urban forest vulnerability we (1) undertook a survey of over 5000 street trees after an extreme heat event in western Sydney and assessed foliage damage across species and economic costs of replacement; and (2) assessed the diversity of urban forests at the local government level across Australia. We then developed the ‘Which Plant Where’ online plant selector tool, a climate-ready plant selector tool containing information for over 2500 plant species, hybrids and cultivars, designed to inform climate-ready plant selection for Australian urban environments. The tool is underpinned by species distribution models, allowing users to select climatically-suitable species for three time periods (2030, 2050, 2070), for chosen locations at postcode-level. Which Plant Where also contains information on growth characteristics and environmental tolerances to aid in plant selection, provides quantitative data on total canopy cover and planting diversity, and allows users to calculate co-benefits based on shade, carbon and biodiversity values, based on selected planting palettes. To facilitate successful and resilient urban green spaces, the tool also provides resources and best practice guides covering climate change, resilient urban landscapes, planning, monitoring and maintenance, and community engagement. We discuss planned improvements and additions, based on user experience and feedback.