The Value of Trees

Trees are valuable.  Ask anyone and they will agree this is clear and undisputable.  Valuable to who?  How much value and what type of value?  The answers to those questions should be clear, but often are not.  So, let’s take a look. 
 
Valuable to who?  Everyone!  Everywhere!  Whether you realize it or not.  We would have a very hard time living on planet Earth without trees.
 
How much value and what type?  Well, that depends on what’s important to you and what you are measuring to determine value.  What are the benefits and services trees provide, and which ones are most valuable to you?
 
Provisioning Services

• food – trees provide food for people, wildlife, and insects in the form of fruit, nuts, and leaves
• fresh water – tree canopies transpire clean water into the atmosphere where it falls to replenish drinking water supplies
• wood – trees provide wood for building, heating, mulching and much more
• genetics – tree genetics are critical for survival, pest resistance, growing in diverse climates, reproduction and long-term ecological planning and restoration
• medicines – an example is salicylic acid from the willow tree which is in aspirin and acne treatments

 
Regulating Services

• climate regulation – trees are important in moderating temperature in landscapes, regulating city heat islands, carbon sequestration, creating oxygen, and reducing climate change
• natural hazard regulation – trees moderate the impact of storm winds and flooding
• water purification – a mature tree can absorb 500-4000 gallons of water a year preventing it from becoming runoff, and canopies and roots clean pollutants out of rainfall and stormwater runoff
• waste management – through the process of phytoremediation trees filter, break down or deactivate many pollutants in the air, soil, and water
• pollination – trees provide pollen and nectar for many pollinators like the tulip poplar tree blooms for hummingbirds and black tupelo and sourwood for honey bees
• pest control – trees provide food and habitat for many beneficial insects and wildlife that control undesirable pests in the landscape

 
Habitat Benefits

• migratory species – trees provide essential places to rest and refuel for migrating birds and insects like monarch butterflies
• green corridors – trees connect landscapes to neighborhood and city parks to larger natural areas creating corridors for wildlife to live and move around like our beautiful songbirds
• gene pools – because certain trees have evolved with specific wildlife and insects, those creatures can’t live anywhere else or with different trees

 
Cultural Benefits

• spiritual enrichment – trees have positive physiological and psychological effects on us, think “cathedral effect” or Japanese art of “forest bathing”
• horticultural therapy – research studies have documented that patients recover faster when they can see or access trees and landscapes
• intellectual development – trees can help people focus better, lessen symptoms of ADHD, increase working memory and cognitive development, and improve productivity
• recreation – from kids climbing trees to hiking in forests and viewing fall color to seeing the great redwoods, trees provide many recreational experiences
• history – trees have been there; the liberty tree in Boston, the emancipation oak in Hampton, Isaac Newton’s apple tree, the September 11 Survivor Tree in New York, the cherry trees in Washington, the long-leaf pine tree forests that built Hampton Roads, tree fossils, and trees planted in memory of lost loved ones
• place – trees create a sense of place like palms in Florida or California, magnolias in the south, conifers in the north, aspens in Colorado, and mark the change of seasons
• aesthetics – trees can make a landscape design like Central Park in New York, create beautiful parks and neighborhoods which reduces crime and violence, add beauty to retail areas which increases shoppers, and increase property values up to 15%

Image credits: Top right: ​Urban Forest Master Plan, Arlington County; Top Left & Bottom Images: L. Fox