Study of qualitative, quantitative and risk possibility of Plane trees of Urmia

Trees are one of the most important constituents of urban green spaces. Considering the high daily traffic of people in sidewalks and vehicles in streets of cities, any defect in trees can lead to life-threatening (personal injury or death) and economic losses. For this purpose, qualitative and quantitative properties and rate of risk possibility of oriental plane (Platanus orientalis L.) trees of Shahid Beheshti St., Urmia were evaluated using transect method with random start point (sampling intensity of 20%). Quantitative factors including diameter at breast height, total height, and qualitative factors including dead woods and branches, cracks, inappropriate branching, structural weakness (defect), wound, root problems and contact with power lines. In total 190 trees were sampled which ranked as follow: 70 trees (36.8%) as very low risk, 102 (53.7%) as low risk and 18 (9.5%) as moderate risk. Finally applying some amending operations such as crown pruning and cutting of dead branches for moderate risk trees are suggested.