Selection of tree-size variables for appraisal methods for urban trees according to their collinearity

Abstract

The methods for appraising urban trees and municipal inventories in use today are expensive and require quantitative and qualitative variables with a high measurement cost. They are mathematically formulated from at least one treesize variable to define a tree-size value. Researchers present a statistical methodology to analyze tree-size variables applied in appraisal methods for urban trees. A multivariate analysis method was carried out in order to obtain the lowest number of variables that explain the greatest variability of urban trees with no multicollinearity problems. The study was applied to urban trees in the City of Santiago del Estero, Argentina. The variables that showed the lowest collinearity were age and canopy area. The work includes a discussion of the use of correlated variables in appraisal methods for urban trees.