Effects of Human Activities on Urban Trees

by

Patahayah Mansor
B. For. Sc.
1997

Supervisor: Zakariya Abdullah
Co-supervisor: Dr. Nathan Ganapathi

Urban trees are frequently faced with problems that tend to hinder growth due to soil, space, and urban activities. This project was carried out to study the effect of human activities on tree growth. The study parameters are such as construction activities, vehicular damage, and vandalism, including tree vigor, sources of damage, type of damage, and the extent of damage. The study site covered four roads in the residential area of Subang Jaya, namely Pesiaran Murni, Pesiaran Bakti, Pesiaran Tujuan, and Pesiaran Kewajipan. A total of 1135 shade trees were studied, consisting of six tree species. The results show that 68% of trees in the study area were badly damaged, followed by 30% of undamaged trees, and 2% of dead trees. It was found that 58% of the damages have been classified as light, 35% moderate, 5% recoverable, and 2% have the potential danger of being dead trees. This study also revealed that 20% of the damage sources came from construction activities, 8% vehicles, 3% vandalism and 69% from maintenance works and other unknown activities. Most of the injuries occurred on tree trunks (73%), followed by branches and crown (21%). Only 0.13% of the injuries occurred on tree roots and 6% on slanted trees. About 68% of the tree appearance have been classified in medium cosmetic, followed by 16% each in good and poor cosmetic respectively. On tree vigor, about 51% of the trees are in good health, followed by 46% in moderate health, and 4% are dying. This indicates that human activities affect the health and aesthetic value of the trees in urban areas.

Citation:
Patahayah, M. 1997. Effects of human activities on urban trees. B. For. Sc. Thesis. Faculty of Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia. 81 leaves. (http://www.oocities.org/EnchantedForest/Palace/1170/abpata.html)