Lower Midwest Community Tree Guide: Benefits, Costs, and Strategic Planting

Even as they increase the beauty of our surroundings, trees provide us with a great many ecosystem services, including air quality improvement, energy conservation, stormwater interception, and atmospheric carbon dioxide reduction. These benefits must be weighed against the costs of maintaining trees, including planting, pruning, irrigation, administration, pest control, liability, cleanup, and removal. We present benefits and costs for representative small, medium, and large deciduous trees in the Lower Midwest region derived from models based on in-depth research carried out in Indianapolis, Indiana. Average annual net benefits increase with tree size and differ based on location. Two hypothetical examples of planting projects are described to illustrate how the data in this guide can be adapted to local uses, and guidelines for maximizing benefits and reducing costs are given.