Arboriculture around the world and its increasing relevance to people and places

As we enter the year 2019 with uncertainties at every level it seems, from local to global, one certainty that remains is the importance of trees. Furthermore, the vital relationships between people and trees, and between trees and places, are increasingly apparent but sit alongside a growing list of threats from climate change, pests and diseases, to austerity-induced cuts in essential maintenance services, to growing urbanisation. All these and more are the pressures assembled to provide the utmost testing environment to urban trees in general and to street trees in particular. Establishing the benefits and problems associated with urban trees and sharing knowledge and best practice guidance remain at the core of the Arboricultural Journal and to this end we encourage both researchers and practitioners to write both full papers and research notes. We also reach out to other associated disciplines such as ecology, landscape design, and urban history, heritage, and planning to share ideas, approaches and information. Despite the looming uncertainty of BREXIT, this journal remains the leading vehicle for the dissemination of tree management information and research across the whole of Europe and beyond. Long may that continue.

For the first issue of 2019, we offer four major papers on a diversity of topics, all of interest and significance. Gashu, Gebre-Egziabher, and Maru (2019) present their research on green infrastructural development and planning with case-studies from two Ethiopian cities, Bahir Dar and Hawassa. There is much here that can transfer to other major conurbations. Kumar, Jolli, and Babu (2019) then consider the hugely important topic of air pollution mitigation in Delhi and take a detailed look at the potential role of avenues of street trees. Work is now emerging from around the globe to confirm the importance of the urban forest in pollution control, and in rapidly growing cities like Delhi this insight is critically important. In this situation as the authors explain, the growing intensity of choking air pollution in towns and cities links directly to large numbers of premature and avoidable deaths. Furthermore, as readers will know, the issues and approaches to street tree management remain very controversial, and therefore research on the benefits of the urban forest stock is informative and helpful.

Taking a theme from last year’s Amenity Tree Conference at Exeter, Thomas (2019) provides a detailed account of long-term evolutionary interactions between soils and trees. Indeed, the topic of soils, mycorrhizal tree-roots, and the various interactions between soils, nutrients, tree growth and health, are emerging as key factors underpinning our understanding of tree performance. Thomas gives a broad account of both the evolution of the present soil-vegetation systems and the significance of understanding soil processes at a time when soils are being polluted and eroded at a global scale. Soils are our future and are irreplaceable.

We also include in this issue a major contribution from Duncan Slater (2019) on his ongoing studies of the functions and management of tree junctions in trees. On this theme we welcome contributions to the journal that review and share ideas, opinions, and attitudes relating to best practice and information-exchange across the arboricultural industry.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.