Threatened species of large urban trees

Large trees in public city spaces, such as oaks, limes, planes and chestnuts are disappearing as city planners choose to plant smaller trees to replace the large ones as they die off.

City developers think that large trees threaten house foundations, take up too much space and require too much upkeep. In addition, their roots are damaged when trenches are dug for television cables. Planners choose to plant evergreen cypress, hawthorn, decorative apple, cherry and plum species, rowans and sycamore instead.

More oaks and alders now suffer from dieback, a disease that is not well understood. Plane trees suffer increasingly from anthracnose.