title: Trees grow on money: urban tree canopy cover and environmental justice.
abstract: This study examines the distributional equity of urban tree canopy (UTC) cover for Baltimore, MD, Los Angeles, CA, New York, NY, Philadelphia, PA, Raleigh, NC, Sacramento, CA, and Washington, D.C. using high spatial resolution land cover data and census data. Data are analyzed at the Census Block Group levels using Spearman's correlation, ordinary least squares regression (OLS), and a spatial autoregressive model (SAR). Across all cities there is a strong positive correlation between UTC cover and median household income. Negative correlations between race and UTC cover exist in bivariate models for some cities, but they are generally not observed using multivariate regressions that include additional variables on income, education, and housing age. SAR models result in higher r-square values compared to the OLS models across all cities, suggesting that spatial autocorrelation is an important feature of our data. Similarities among cities can be found based on shared characteristics of climate, race/ethnicity, and size. Our findings suggest that a suite of variables, including income, contribute to the distribution of UTC cover. These findings can help target simultaneous strategies for UTC goals and environmental justice concerns.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, Kentucky, United States of America.
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schwarz
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, College of Business and Economics (COBE), Boise State University, Boise, Idaho, United States of America.
authors.forename: Michail
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fragkias
authors.affiliation: School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America.
authors.forename: Christopher G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Boone
authors.affiliation: Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Haidian District, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Weiqi
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McHale
authors.affiliation: USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
authors.forename: J Morgan
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Grove
authors.affiliation: University of Vermont, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources and Spatial Analysis Lab, Burlington, Vermont, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jarlath
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: O'Neil-Dunne
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Joseph P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: McFadden
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, Ohio University, Clippinger Laboratories 109, Athens, Ohio, United States of America.
authors.forename: Geoffrey L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Buckley
authors.affiliation: School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Childers
authors.affiliation: Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies, Florida International University, FIU Modesto A. Maidique Campus, Miami, Florida, United States of America.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ogden
authors.affiliation: Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pincetl
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America.
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pataki
authors.affiliation: Georgetown University, Washington D.C., United States of America.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Whitmer
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Sciences, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Mary L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Cadenasso
mesh_terms: D002947:Cities; D004777:Environment; D006801:Humans; D063148:Plant Dispersal; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014197:Trees; D014481:United States; D014505:Urban Population; D014507:Urbanization
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