How Trees and Urban Forest Systems Actually Affect Stormwater Runoff
As municipalities adopt low-impact development (LID) and green stormwater infrastructure practices to manage stormwater runoff, stormwater managers and design engineers need to better understand how effective trees and urban forest systems are at mitigating stormwater runoff and how management of these natural systems can reduce stormwater runoff and pollutant loading. This article reviews the most current research regarding the volume of rainfall retained by tree canopy; the impacts of foliar detention of stormwater runoff lag time, peak flow, and velocity; water volume removed from the soil through transpiration; and nutrient uptake by trees.
Quantifying the benefits of urban forest systems as a component of the green infrastructure stormwater treatment network. Ecohydrology. 2017https://doi.org/10.1002/ eco.1813