Hunting for a Larger Diversity of Urban Trees in Western Europe—A Case Study from the Southern Caucasus

Henrik Sjöman; Simon Hannus; Patrick Bellan; Tinatin Barblishvili; Tamaz Darchidze; Shalva Sikharulidze

doi:10.48044/jauf.2019.018

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Figure 1.
Location of the different forest reserve study sites in Georgia located in black.
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Figure 2.
Calculated net water difference comparison between studied forest reserves and five West European cities presented in four different scenarios: i) present climate in low density residential area; ii) present climate in high density residential area; iii) future climate scenario in low density residential area; and, iv) future climate scenario in high density residential area.
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Figure 3.
Dendrogram illustrating the site match between the natural and urban sites.

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Table 1.

Mean monthly temperature (° C) and precipitation (mm) in the field study areas.

	Jan	Feb	March	April	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual mean^{^a}
Akhmeta— 430 MASL^{^b}
Mean monthly temp. (° C)	0.4	1.5	6.0	12.4	16.9	21.1	21.1	23.7	19.4	13.5	7.1	2.0	M = 20.4
Precipitation (mm)	19.6	23.6	33.3	53.2	76.0	85.6	76.9	70.2	47.0	42.1	32.2	21.2	S = 355.6
Bakuriani— 2100 MASL
Mean monthly temp. (° C)	−5.8	−5.0	−0.6	5.5	10.0	13.9	13.9	16.8	12.8	7.2	1.0	−3.9	M = 5.5
Precipitation (mm)	56.3	54.4	60.1	72.4	90.4	103.9	79.6	65.8	56.0	64.1	61.8	53.0	S = 395.8
Kutaisi— 117 MASL
Mean monthly temp. (° C)	3.4	4.3	8.4	14.5	19.1	22.7	22.7	25.8	21.8	16.4	10.2	5.1	M = 22.4
Precipitation (mm)	113.0	96.0	101.7	99.2	96.2	109.8	83.1	78.1	102.4	126.1	124.2	120.4	S = 469.6
Mtskheta— 629 MASL
Mean monthly temp. (° C)	0.9	1.8	6.3	12.5	17.0	21.1	21.1	23.7	19.6	13.9	7.6	2.6	M = 20.5
Precipitation (mm)	20.1	23.6	31.7	51.0	73.4	68.3	46.4	41.9	35.6	39.3	30.5	21.4	S = 265.5
Oni— 1190 MASL
Mean monthly temp. (° C)	1.1	2.2	6.6	12.9	17.6	21.5	21.5	24.2	20.1	14.3	7.7	2.6	M = 21.0
Precipitation (mm)	55.9	47.7	54.3	65.6	69.7	74.8	61.4	55.8	54.8	65.8	63.4	57.5	S = 316.5

↵^a Mean annual temperature (M) and cumulative precipitation (S) in the respective area.
↵^b Meters Above Sea Level

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Table 2.

Mean monthly temperature (° C) and precipitation (mm) in Western European cities used for assessments.

	Jan	Feb	March	April	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual mean^{^a}
Berlin
Mean monthly temp. (° C)	0.5	1	4.5	8.5	13.5	16.5	18	17.5	14	9.5	4.5	1	M = 9.1
Precipitation (mm)	43	37	38	42	55	71	53	65	46	36	50	55	S = 591
Copenhagen
Mean monthly temp. (° C)	3	3	7	9	14	18	19.5	19.5	16.5	12.5	8	5	M = 11.3
Precipitation (mm)	36	24	34	35	40	45	57	55	53	47	52	47	S = 525
London
Mean monthly temp. (° C)	3.5	4	6	8	11	14.5	16.5	16	14	10.5	6.5	4.5	M = 9.6
Precipitation (mm)	78	51	61	54	55	57	45	56	68	73	77	79	S = 754
Madrid
Mean monthly temp. (° C)	5.5	7.5	9.5	11.5	15.5	20.5	24.5	24	20.5	14.5	9.5	6.5	M = 14.1
Precipitation (mm)	33	34	23	39	47	26	11	12	24	39	48	48	S = 384
Stockholm
Mean monthly temp. (° C)	−3	−3	0	5	11	16	17.5	16.5	12	7.5	3	−1	M = 6.8
Precipitation (mm)	39	27	26	30	30	45	72	66	55	50	53	46	S = 539

↵^a Mean annual temperature (M) and cumulative precipitation (S) in the respective area.

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Table 3.

Total number of wooded species and their structural distribution in the study plots at the five different forest reserves, divided into three different categories depending on the vertical distribution: upper canopy layer (UCL), lower canopy layer (LCL), and shrub level (SL) with plants < 1.5 m.

Species	Akhmeta	Bakuriani	Kutaisi	Mtskheta	Oni
Abies nordmanniana	-	SL/LCL/UCL	-	-	SL/LCL/UCL
Acer campestre	SL	UCL	UCL	-	LCL
Acer cappadocicum	-	-	-	-	LCL
Acer platanoides	-	-	-	-	UCL
Acer trautvetteri	-	UCL	-	-	-
Carpinus betulus	UCL	LCL	UCL	-	LCL
Carpinus orientalis	LCL	-	LCL	SL/LCL/UCL	-
Castanea sativa	-	-	-	-	UCL
Celtis caucasica	-	-	-	UCL	-
Cornus mas	LCL	-	-	SL/LCL	-
Cornus sanguineum	SL	-	-	SL/LCL	-
Corylus avellana	-	SL/LCL	-	-	SL/LCL
Cotoneaster sp.	-	-	-	SL	-
Cotinus cogyggria	-	-	-	SL	-
Crataegus monogyna	SL/LCL	-	SL/LCL	-	-
Euonymus verrucosa	-	-	-	SL	-
Fagus orientalis	-	SL/LCL/UCL	-	-	SL/LCL/UCL
Fraxinus excelsior	SL	-	-	UCL	-
Ilex colchica	-	-	-	-	SL
Juniperus foetidissima	-	-	-	UCL	-
Juniperus excelsa	-	-	-	UCL	-
Juniperus oxycedrus	-	-	-	SL/LCL	-
Ligustrum vulgare	SL	-	-	SL	-
Lonicera caucasica	-	SL	-	-	-
Paliurus spina-christi	-	-	-	SL/LCL	-
Picea orientalis	-	LCL/UCL	-	-	LCL/UCL
Pinus sylvetris spp. hamata	-	UCL	-	-	-
Populus tremula	-	UCL	-	-	-
Prunus avium	UCL	-	UCL	-	-
Prunus cerasifera	-	-	-	SL	-
Prunus lauracersus	-	-	-	-	SL
Pyrus caucasica	-	UCL	-	-	-
Quercus colchica	UCL	-	UCL	UCL	-
Quercus hartwissiana	-	-	UCL	-	-
Quercus macranthera	-	UCL	-	-	-
Rhododendron luteum	-	SL	-	-	-
Rhododendron ponticum	-	SL	-	-	-
Ruscus ponticus	SL	-	SL	SL	-
Sorbus torminalis	-	-	UCL	-	-
Tilia begoniifolia	-	SL/LCL/UCL	-	-	SL/LCL/UCL
Ulmus glabra	UCL	UCL	-	-	LCL
Viburnum lantana	-	-	-	SL	SL
Viburnum opulus	-	SL	-	-	SL
Zelkova carpinifolia	UCL	-	UCL	-	-

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Table 4.

Soil type determination in studied forest reserves.

Study site	Soil type	Description^¹
Akhmeta	Cinnamonic (Cambisols cromic)	Sandy loam, weakly alkaline or neutral reaction, moderate content of humus, deep penetration of humus
Bakuriani	Leptosols	Loamy clay, acid and weakly acid reaction, high content of humus, deep penetration of humus
Kutaisi	Alluvial (Fluvisols)	Loamy clay, weakly alkaline or neutral reaction, moderate content of humus, deep penetration of humus
Mtskheta	Cinnamonic (Cambisols chromic)	Sandy loam, weakly alkaline or neutral reaction, moderate content of humus, deep penetration of humus
Oni	Leptosols	Loamy clay, acid and weakly acid reaction, high content of humus, deep penetration of humus