Benefit of Adding Habitat: A function of Convertible Lands as well as lands that are not Habitat. This can be expressed as a proportion, or by area. A high proportion of existing Convertible Lands and/or a low proportion of Habitat will offer a greater benefit of adding Habitat.
Benefit of Expanding Habitat: A function of Convertible Lands AND Habitat, as well as the inverse of lands that are not Habitat. This can be expressed as a proportion, or by area. A low proportion of existing Habitat and/or a low proportion of Convertible Lands will offer a low benefit of Habitat expansion. Given blocks with a mixture of existing Habitat and Convertible Lands, those with a greater proportion of Convertible Lands will derive a greater benefit from Habitat expansion.
Acres of Opportunity: A function of Convertible Lands. We assume these lands can be converted into Habitat. High hectarage or proportion of Convertible Lands offers greater opportunity to increase Habitat for plants and dependent animals.
Opportunity, proportional: This is a function of Convertible Lands. We assume these lands can be converted into Habitat. High hectarage or proportion of Convertible Lands offers greater opportunity to increase Habitat for plants and dependent animals.
Pollutant Load: We developed a unitless, area-weighted and normalized Block Pollutant Loading metric by summing estimated loading for fecal coliform, Total Copper (Cu), Total Lead (Pb) and Total Zinc (Zn) for land use polygons within each block. Fecal coliform and metals were chosen because they are common pollutants for which Total Maximum Daily Loads are in place in Los Angeles and they are indicative of exposure risk to humans and in-stream organisms respectively. The metric doesn’t provide information related to absolute loading, but rather makes relative comparisons between blocks based on land use and area. Values of 0.5 or greater are considered Very High in terms of pollutant load and thus important areas for prioritization of siting vegetated nature-based solutions.
Social and Public Health Rank (SPH): The SPH score is the average score of six indicators: Air Quality Pollution Burden, Economic Hardship, Urban Heat, Lack of Greenspace, race/ethnicity, and Population Density. We calculated the average rank of the above indicators. These averages range from 1.3–8.7. We calculated natural breaks which identified the highest scoring tracts that have values of 6.9 or greater.
Tree Gap Closing Score: Ranked score (0-100) identifying the suitability of census block groups for tree planting to address tree cover disparity.
UHI Gap Closing Score: Ranked score (0-100) identifying the suitability of census block groups for tree planting to address UHI disparity.
Current UHI: The mean summer urban heat island impact.
UHI Gap: The difference in UHI between this census block group and the highest income quartile for the city.
Current Tree Canopy: The percent of the census block group area covered by tree canopy.
Tree Gap: The difference in percent tree cover between this census block group and the highest income quartile for the city.
Tree Canopy Needed to Close UHI Gap: The additional canopy cover needed (%) to close the UHI Gap.
Type 1: Low development with natural vegetation
Very high natural vegetation, primarily grassland and forest
Very steep terrain
Very low urban development and low population density
Relatively high precipitation for the Los Angeles area
Type 2: Dams, reservoirs, and wetlands
Low vegetation cover
Level terrain
Very low urban development
Type 3: Foothill areas
Affluent and well-vegetated neighborhoods
Primarily residential uses
Moderate terrain
Moderate building site coverage and population density
Type 4: Urban parks and open space
High tree canopy coverage and green open space
Low urban development
Primarily parks, cemeteries, and golf courses
Type 5: Valley arterial areas
Highest traffic density and traffic noise
High percentage of impervious surface
Low in vegetation
Primarily highways and surrounding neighborhoods
Type 6: Valley less-developed areas
Moderate terrain, mostly in the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys
Relatively hotter and wetter weather
Low tree canopy coverage and greenness
High urban development and population
Primarily residential uses
Type 7: Basin less-developed areas
Flat terrain, mostly in the Los Angeles Basin
Milder and dryer weather
Low tree canopy coverage and greenness
High urban development and population
Primarily residential uses
Type 8: Most-developed areas
Very high urban development and population
Far from regional parks with natural vegetation
Very low tree canopy coverage and greenness
Mixed land use
Type 9: Furthest from regional parks with natural vegetation
High urban development and population
Very high traffic density and noise
Low tree canopy coverage and greenness
Furthest from regional parks with natural vegetation
Mixed land use