Project

CSI Trees: Future proof trees

More and more applied urban trees have problems growing vitally. They are proving increasingly less climate resilient to the current and expected future inner-city environment. This leads, among other things, to poor growth, leaf and bark burn, increased susceptibility to diseases and pests and, in general, to poor 'performance', which means that potential ecosystem services such as passive and active cooling of the air and water retention during downpours cannot be achieved. Much is demanded of the resilience of many tree species due to increasing abiotic stress factors, especially when it comes to bridging prolonged periods of drought and heat.

Project goal

Over the next two years, Wageningen Research will be laying the foundation for a new system for the search for climate adaptive urban trees in the CSI Trees project. This research will be conducted in order to provide cities in the future with substantiated tree species that are able to withstand the increasing abiotic stress factors resulting from climate change. This substantiation of the stress resistance takes place by classifying the current and future tree stock after controlled measurement to various stress factors (NPEC).