Tree guidelines for coastal southern California communities

This document is one of a series of community tree guides for 16 regions across the United States; here the focus in on coastal southern California communities. In the first chapter, the environmental (energy conservation, air quality improvement, stormwater management, greenhouse gas reductions) and other benefits (e.g., aesthetics, habitat, increased property values) of trees are described together with expected costs (planting, maintenance, infrastructure conflicts, irrigation). In the second chapter, specific, local values for  these benefits and costs are presented based on an intensive field study in Santa Monica. Chapter 3 provides practical suggestions for maximizing benefits, and Chapter 4 offers guidelines for designing and implementing community shade tree programs. Chapter 5 includes guidance on species choice and a table of species and their attributes. The other community tree guides in this series can be found here: https://www.fs.fed.us/psw/topics/urban_forestry/products/tree_guides.shtml