Restricted Research - Award List, Note/Discussion Page
Fiscal Year: 2023
251 University of North Texas (142139)
Principal Investigator: Ponette,Alexandra Gisela
Total Amount of Contract, Award, or Gift (Annual before 2011): $ 9,165
Exceeds $250,000 (Is it flagged?): No
Start and End Dates: 4/20/22 - 12/31/22
Restricted Research: YES
Academic Discipline: Geography
Department, Center, School, or Institute: College of Lib Arts & Soc Sci
Title of Contract, Award, or Gift: Species-Diverse Planting Interventions for Air Quality Mitigation in Urban Areas
Name of Granting or Contracting Agency/Entity:
Texas Trees Foundation
CFDA:
Program Title: none
Note:
Interest in the potential for trees to reduce particulate matter (PM) pollution in urban areas has increased dramatically in recent decades (1-4) because of the well-established negative effects of PM on human health and welfare (5) and because PM reductions translate into health benefits for urban residents (6). However, compared to growing evidence that atmospheric PM concentrations and exposures vary at fine spatial scales in US cities (7), we know little about how PM removal rates vary by species and in different urban contexts. Recent work conducted by Ponette-González and colleagues in the City of Denton, Texas, shows that removal of elemental carbon (a component of PM that is causally linked to cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality (8)) by two urban tree species is highly variable across space and time due to variations in proximity to emissions sources, tree species, and urban form (9-10). Moreover, elemental carbon removal tends to be highly localized near sources (e.g., major roads), extending up to 500 m from individual trees (11). Thus, our current research confirms prior work that planting urban vegetation is a plausible intervention for mitigating particulate matter air pollution, especially in near-road environments (12). Such interventions may also help to reduce existing disparities in PM exposure since larger percentages of African-American, Asian, Hispanic, and foreign-born individuals live within 150 meters of a major highway (13).
Discussion: No discussion notes