System Definition (SYS). Endogenous second-tier variables defining the system of interest in the UFSES framework. Abbreviations in the “Other UF frameworks” column correspond to shorthand citation keys for frameworks described in Table 2. Notes for Table 3 through Table 9 appear in Appendix D. SYS (system definition); UFSES (urban forest social-ecological system); UF (urban forest).
| Number | Second-tier variable | Third-a and fourth-tierb variable(s) | Description and possible values | Other UF frameworks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SYS1 | System | Identifying features and characteristics of the entire system | GOV1 | |
| SYS1-1 | Identifiera | Name or other definitional descriptor of the UFSES of interest | ||
| SYS1-2 | Sizea | Land area (or land and water area if appropriate) | ||
| SYS1-3 | Urban forest typea | A classification of the collection of trees/urban forests area or areas in question. Types might include: street trees, manicured park trees, naturalized park trees, urban forest patches (may include vacant lots), residential or yard trees, communally managed forests or woodlands, trees on large institutional landowners (e.g., university or hospital or business campuses, which may or may not look and function like manicured parks), and so on. There may be more than one kind of urban forest relevant to any given analysis, and in complex ecologies or management situations, it may be necessary to capture the set of second- and third-tier variables for each SYS1-3. Urban forest type (Note 1). | ||
| SYS2 | System boundaries | Scale(s) and level(s) of interest (Note 2). | GOV1, CC, MOS | |
| SYS2-1 | Geographic boundariesa | Level of geographic interest: e.g., single lot; larger site, such as a college campus; neighborhood or community area; entire community or collection of communities; regional level such as a metropolitan statistical area or multicounty planning region or watershed; larger levels than these likely encompass nonurban areas but may be useful geographic boundaries in unique circumstances. | ||
| SYS2-2 | Jurisdictional boundariesa | Level of jurisdictional control of interest (e.g., city/municipality; county; a single park; institutional land management, such as university or hospital campuses). | PAT | |
| SYS2-3 | Other boundary characteristics/analytical dimensions of relevancea | E.g., only publicly managed trees (along streets and in parks), trees along stream corridors, or other meaningful boundaries or characteristics that define the system of interest (Note 3). | ||
| TIME-X | Time period | Time 0 (baseline), Time 1, Time 2, etc.b | What time period(s) are of interest or being examined (year, season, decade); may be multiple time periods if data is gathered at more than one point in time or examines change. | PAT |