Linking Ecological and Economic Valuation of Urban Natural Areas in U.S. Cities

Urban vegetation provides critical ecosystem services—carbon storage, cooling, stormwater regulation, and air and water purification—while also supporting human health and well-being. Yet not all vegetation contributes equally. Unlike managed landscapes such as lawns and golf courses, natural areas (forests, shrublands, wetlands) are sustained by ecological processes and deliver disproportionately large benefits relative to their size. Despite their importance, these areas are poorly represented in existing land cover datasets. National products such as the U.S. NLCD lack the resolution to distinguish natural from managed vegetation, leaving cities without systematic, fine-scale assessments of their natural assets.

This project addresses that gap by developing detailed, scalable maps of urban natural areas across U.S. cities and linking them to measures of ecological and economic value. By integrating satellite imagery, local datasets, and socioeconomic data, the project will estimate the contributions of natural areas to urban resilience and human well-being. Valuations will include avoided energy costs through cooling, reduced flood damages, improved air quality, and long-term climate mitigation from carbon storage.

Key Responsibilities for the RA:

• Assist in refining classification of urban natural areas using high-resolution imagery and local datasets.
• Compile and organize vegetation and biodiversity data (e.g., tree inventories) from U.S. cities.
• Support integration of ecological data with economic valuation methods (e.g., avoided energy costs, flood damages, healthcare benefits).
• Contribute to data management, documentation, and basic analyses.