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How trees in urban areas are key to cooling down a warmer world
https://news.osu.edu/how-trees-in-urban-areas-are-key-to-cooling-down-a-warmer-world/May 06, 2026
Forest-building a sustainable solution to future heat waves, study finds
Tatyana Woodall
Ohio State News
woodall.52@osu.edu
Planting new forests may be a low-cost way to combat warming temperatures in urban areas, suggests a new study.
In a large-scale field experiment, researchers planted 640 tree saplings across 20 parks in Dayton, Ohio, and implemented varying irrigation methods. After monitoring sapling survival, growth and health in response to their irrigation methods and nearby temperatures, the team found that the effects of both water treatment and surrounding heat varied among tree species.
An analysis of saplings at season’s end revealed an overall survival rate of about 48%, indicating that irrigation approaches impacted species’ health differently: Certain species, such as red maple, northern catalpa and honey locust, consistently thrived over others, particularly the white oak, black gum and sassafras saplings.
Understanding the causes behind these environmental disparities could make urban forests both a lucrative and sustainable option for preventive climate action, said Erika Wright, first author of the study and a graduate student in entomology at The Ohio State University.
…
Erika R. Wright, Christopher B. Riley, Ellen Danford, Samuel F. Ward, Mary M. Gardiner, Building climate resilient urban forests: Impacts of irrigation and heat on tree establishment in a legacy city, Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, Volume 120, 2026, 129422, ISSN 1618-8667, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2026.129422.Forest-building a sustainable solution to future heat waves, study finds
Tatyana Woodall
Ohio State News
woodall.52@osu.edu
Planting new forests may be a low-cost way to combat warming temperatures in urban areas, suggests a new study.
In a large-scale field experiment, researchers planted 640 tree saplings across 20 parks in Dayton, Ohio, and implemented varying irrigation methods. After monitoring sapling survival, growth and health in response to their irrigation methods and nearby temperatures, the team found that the effects of both water treatment and surrounding heat varied among tree species.
An analysis of saplings at season’s end revealed an overall survival rate of about 48%, indicating that irrigation approaches impacted species’ health differently: Certain species, such as red maple, northern catalpa and honey locust, consistently thrived over others, particularly the white oak, black gum and sassafras saplings.
Understanding the causes behind these environmental disparities could make urban forests both a lucrative and sustainable option for preventive climate action, said Erika Wright, first author of the study and a graduate student in entomology at The Ohio State University.
…