Stormwater management: the role of urban trees

Abstract

The influence of urban trees in management of stormwater is to moderate the microclimate, to reduce the ”urban heat island” (UHI) through shading and evaporative cooling and also, by reducing glare and insolation. Trees intercept a portion of rainfall that evaporates and never reaches the ground. Surface runoff is avoided when precipitation is held on foliage until it returns into the atmosphere. The capacity of water interception is influenced by biological and structural characteristics of the trees (species-specific factors), and by climatic conditions (site-specific factors). The purpose of this paper is to study the water storage and evaporation capacity of the three important tree species identified in a typical urban of Iași: Acer platanoides L., Aesculus hippocastanum L. and Tilia sp.