Trees Falling from the Road

Many cities have been consolidated in a disorganised way, with no balance between green spaces and buildings. Trees provide shade, regulate the climate, make environments more welcoming, capture pollutants from the air and prevent flooding in waterproofed cities. However, for cultural reasons, they are considered negative by the population: leaves clog gutters, roots destroy pavements, trunks and tops get in the way of wires and, above all, they are susceptible to falls. This book consists of six chapters, the first of which is a brief introduction to the subject. The second provides a broad overview of the influence of climatic variables on tree falls in Piracicaba/SP/Brazil, with an emphasis on wind. Regions where falls are concentrated and the vulnerability of species are identified. The third chapter quantifies the Leaf Area Index (LAI) for different street trees, which was the basis for conducting the next four and five case studies using microclimate simulations with ENVI-met v3.1 software, in order to understand the behaviour of the area under predefined conditions. The final chapter summarises the main findings. Venture forth!