Urban dendrochronology toolkit for evidence-based decision-making on climate risk, cultural heritage, environmental pollution, and tree management-A systematic review

The growing urban complexity calls for evidence-based decision-making to guarantee efficient policies and outcomes. This is only possible by bridging the gap between academia and public sector through comprehensive methods and synthesis capacity. Dendrochronology, or the study of tree rings, is renowned for its support of public policies, but its applications in cities have lagged behind. To bridge this knowledge gap and prove urban dendrochronology as a valuable toolkit for evidence-based decision-making, we systematically reviewed 181 studies on urban and peri-urban forests. The wide geographical distribution of the studies points to the value of urban dendrochronology under various climate and demographic conditions, as does the wide array of applications in the assessment of climate risk, cultural heritage, environmental pollution, and tree management. The discussion of these goals is oriented toward decision-makers. We highlighted the gains from urban dendrochronology, its practical applications, and the requirements of timing and resources to produce the evidence needed. We deliberately avoided any reference to underlying biological mechanisms because these should be under the care of their academic partners. We also observed a significant gap in the interpretation of the results of the studies in terms of urban planning, pointing to the need of engaging the authors in supporting the needs of cities. Thus, this systematic review proves dendrochronology as a valuable toolkit for decision-making and it helps to build a bridge between academia and decision-makers for more efficient urban planning.