Urban forests, ecosystem services and modeling

that is becoming overcrowded, polluted and with an expansion of land covered by impervious surfaces the alterations given by climate change lead to new challenges for the relationship between people and urban ecosystems.2,3 Urban forests and, in general, urban green spaces are an important component of the urban ecotone and they provide several and different environmental, economic and social benefits in term of ecosystem services.[4][5][6][7] They help cities not only to adapt to climate changes but also to attenuate storm water runoff, improve air quality, reduce sound emissions from traffic, neutralize urban heat island effects, regulate ambient temperature, offset greenhouse gas emission, reduce nutrient leaching to groundwater, provide food, ecological corridors, habitat and landscape connectivity, increment biodiversity, improve the carbon sequestration, enhance recreational opportunities, and to reduce stress and crime activity.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]