Tree Species as Metabolic Indicators: A Comparative Simulation in Amman, Jordan

Anas Tuffaha () and Ágnes Sallay
Additional contact information
Anas Tuffaha: Doctoral School of Landscape Architecture and Landscape Ecology, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Villányi Str. 29-43, 1118 Budapest, Hungary
Ágnes Sallay: Doctoral School of Landscape Architecture and Landscape Ecology, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Villányi Str. 29-43, 1118 Budapest, Hungary

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 8, 1-14

Abstract: Urban metabolism frameworks offer insight into flows of energy, materials, and services in cities, yet tree species selection is seldom treated as a metabolic indicator. In Amman, Jordan, we integrate spatial metabolic metrics to critique monocultural greening policies and demonstrate how species choices forecast long-term urban metabolic performance. Using ENVI-met 5.61 simulations, we compare Melia azedarach , Olea europaea , and Ceratonia siliqua , mainly assessing urban flow related elements like air temperature reduction, CO 2 sequestration, and evapotranspiration alongside rooting depth, isoprene emissions, and biodiversity support. Melia delivers rapid cooling but shows other negatives like a low biodiversity value; Olea offers average cooling and sequestration but has allergenic pollen issues in people as a flow; Ceratonia provides scalable cooling, increased carbon uptake, and has a high ecological value. We propose a metabolic reframing of green infrastructure planning to choose urban species, guided by system feedback rather than aesthetics, to ensure long-term resilience in arid urban climates.

Keywords: urban metabolism; green infrastructure; ENVI-met simulation; Melia azedarach (chinaberry) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/8/1566/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/8/1566/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:8:p:1566-:d:1713963

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().