The Total Nitrogen(T-N) and Total Phosphors(T-P) contents in the soils of three riparian forests with poplar trees were compared with the surrounding cultivated and uncultivated lands. Three key results were obtained by analyzing poplar tree volume and the T-N and T-P content in the plant body. First, in soil surveys covering 36 points, the T-N and T-P content in the riparian forests were 0.064% and 0.036%, respectively, whereas in non-riparian forests, they were 0.147% and 0.101%, respectively. The two areas had significantly different T-N and T-P values. Within the non-riparian-forest category, the T-N and T-P content in cultivated land was 0.174% and 0.103%, respectively, showing significant differences from riparian forest values. When comparing riparian forests and uncultivated land, the T-N contents were not significantly different (p > 0.113), but the T-P content of 0.095% showed a significant difference (p < 0.006). Second, the total poplar tree volumes of the riparian forest test sites 1, 2, and 3 were 466.46 m³, 171.34 m³, and 75.76 m^3, respectively. The T-N and T-P accumulation per unit area was the largest in site 1, at 497.75 kg/ha and 112.73 kg/ha, respectively. The larger the tree volume, the larger the T-N and T-P accumulation in the plant body, and the lower the T-N and T-P content in the soil. Third, analyzing the T-N and T-P removal rate in relation to the environmental conditions of the riparian forests showed that site 3 had the smallest total poplar tree content, and the T-N and T-P accumulation per unit area (ha) was also relatively low at just 56% and 68% of the average value. The main causes of this outcome are thought to be the differences in environmental conditions, such as the crop cultivated before poplar planting began and the terrain. The research results verify that riparian forests with poplar trees reduced T-N and T-P content in the soils. The growth of poplar is expected to increase the removal of T-N and T-P from the soil and contribute to the reduction of various nonpoint source pollution flows into rivers and lakes and to the purification of soil in flooded areas. Therefore, riparian forests can act as a form of green infrastructure and as a system to remove nonpoint source pollution in ecological watershed management.

A sponge campus aims to improve the overall effectiveness of the stormwater system of campus through the use of low-impact development (LID) measures to cope with climate extremes, heavy rainfall, and flooding. This study endeavors to assist companies and organizations in addressing issues such as evaluating the effectiveness of LID measures in sponge campuses to confirm the soundness of sponge solutions. To accomplish the goal, this study employs a methodology to assess the effectiveness of LID measures by constructing five objectives (total annual runoff control rate, runoff pollutant reduction rate, flood flow control, peak present time extension, and stormwater utilization system) and finally verifies the validity of this methodology through real examples. The results of the study demonstrate that the Sponge campus program is reasonable and meets the requirements for Sponge City construction in the area. After implementing LID measures, the total annual runoff control rate reaches 81.5%, the reduction rate of runoff pollutants (SS) exceeds 65%, the flood peak flow is reduced by more than 30%, and the peak moment of the flow at the outfall is extended by 4-6 minutes. The campus can effectively alleviate urban flooding problems by rationally configuring the LID measures and constructing a sustainable stormwater management system with a multi-objective orientation. This also improves the efficiency of stormwater resource utilization. The contribution of this study lies in providing valuable methods and insights for understanding and evaluating the effectiveness of LID measures. It also provides a certain reference for engineers and planners engaged in the field, which is crucial for the future construction of Sponge City.

With the intensifying trend of population aging, the positive effects of Urban Green Space (UGS) on Psychological Well-being (PW) among older adults have garnered increasing attention. Previous studies examined the unidirectional pathways through which objective UGS exposure indicators influenced PW via Sense of Place (SOP) or Perceived Restorativeness (PR). However, little empirical work has addressed how UGS exposure affects PW in older adults through a dual mediation pathway encompassing both SOP and PR. To address this gap, this study investigated representative urban parks in Fuzhou, China. Using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) as objective exposure indicators, along with survey data capturing older adults’ perceived characteristics (PC) of UGS, SOP, and PR, we developed a multilevel structural equation model to explore how NDVI, NDWI, and PC influence PW through the dual mediators of SOP and PR. Results indicated that (1) NDVI and PC influence PW either directly or indirectly via the mediators SOP and PR, with PC exhibiting a significantly stronger effect than NDVI; (2) NDWI has no significant effect on SOP and PW, but it indirectly influences PW through PR; (3) PR moderated the link between SOP and PW; (4) under the dual-pathway mechanism, PR contributes more substantially to PW than SOP. This study enriches the understanding of how UGS contributes to PW and advocates for integrating exposure characteristics, place qualities, and restorative elements into the framework of age-friendly city planning to guide targeted health interventions for the elderly. Moreover, SOP–PR insights from an East Asian city inform global aging urbanism.

This study explores the health status of veteran Zelkova serrata trees (average age 300 years) in the Pohang region in the context of long-term climatic trends and local environmental variability. Eleven nationally designated veteran trees were monitored using physiological indicators Soil Plant Analysis Development (SPAD) values and live crown ratio (LCR), internal structural assessment (sonic tomography-derived decay ratio), and environmental parameters including meteorological records and Landsat-derived Land Surface Temperature (LST) data from 2000 to 2025. While recent years showed localized heat-extreme events, most sites displayed spatially heterogeneous yet gradually increasing LST trends, with 2024 recording the highest values at more than half the locations. Tree vitality differences were more strongly associated with site specific microclimatic conditions than with uniform long-term climate shifts: trees in cooler or less urbanized zones showed higher SPAD values and lower decay levels, whereas those in warmer, edge-influenced sites exhibited signs of physiological stress. The results indicate that rising summer surface temperature—and their interaction with atmospheric drying—intensify water-stress impacts, but the actual tree responses are modulated by local land-cover and soil stability contexts. These findings underscore the need for integrated, multi-scale assessment of veteran tree health and suggest that conservation practices should incorporate microclimate-based intervention strategies.

Urban trees deliver multiple ecosystem services. However, rapid climate change may alter species-specific growth suitability, necessitating climate-informed planting and management. We developed 1 km grid-based ensemble species distribution models (ensemble SDMS) for 18 tree species widely planted in South Korean cities and projected growth suitability under SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0, and SSP5-8.5 across four future periods (2021–2040, 2041–2060, 2061–2080, 2081–2100) relative to a historical baseline (2000–2019). We quantified multidimensional redistribution signals from SDM outputs, including binary suitable area changes, centroid displacement, latitudinal boundary shifts, and mean suitability changes, using multivariate climatic predictors and complementary environmental variables. These indicators were integrated to classify species responses into four management-relevant types: Stable, Northward Expansion, Poleward Shift, Range Contraction. Model performance was generally high (AUC = 0.74–0.97). Although the median change in suitable area remained near 0%, interspecific variability increased toward later periods and under stronger forcing, with the largest dispersion under SSP3-7.0 (2041–2060). Stable type was most frequent overall (36.8–63.2%), but Northward Expansion increased to 42.1% under late-century SSP3-7.0, and Range Contraction reached 36.8% under mid-century SSP3-7.0. This indicator-based typology provides a practical basis for decision-support tools to prioritize climate-adaptive urban tree selection, replacement, and monitoring.

Dams are gray infrastructure, providing various benefits such as flood control, water supply, and power generation. In order to create the next generation of infrastructure that explores how nature can act as infrastructure to meet development and ecological sustainability, artificial plantings have been attempted on dam slopes in Korea since 2000. As the planted trees are now stabilized to form a forest, it is time to study the floral characteristics and functions for effective ecological management and the safety of the dams. In this study, we investigated and analyzed flora in the slopes of eight dams in Korea. The comparative study of the whole flora in both the planted zones of the slopes of dams and left and right forests of dams revealed that the number of plant species was higher in the planted zones than in the left and right forests of the same size area. The plant family containing the greatest number of species in the slopes was Asteraceae, followed by Poaceae, Fabaceae, and Rosaceae. Currently, the community structures and families in the slopes of dams exhibit the characteristics of habitats in the initial stage of vegetation succession. Our investigation of planted species and immigration species in the slopes revealed that the latter comprised 89.9%. An average of 34.4% of species were interacting with the dam slope and the left and right forests. The species diversity index on dam slopes showed a tendency to be higher as the number of planted species increased and the period time increased. Average growth heights of planted trees were identified as 0.5–1.6 m for the shrubs layer, 3.5–4.5 m for the small trees layer, and 6.0–7.2 m for the trees layer. The heights of major trees, including Pinus densiflora, Quercus spp., Prunus sargentii, Styrax japonicus, and Cornus controversa, were similar to or higher than those of their counterparts in natural forests. As a result, dam slopes were similar to natural forests, having potential as habitats for various flora. To harmoniously maintain the ecological health and safety of water resource facilities of the slopes of dams, however, it is necessary to conduct periodic and various investigations on changes of the flora and growth of trees, and actively manage them.