Spatial Distribution Characteristics of Damaged Trees in Cities in Typhoon Disaster: A Case Study of Guangzhou

Typhoon, an extreme climate disaster, attacks southeast coastal cities of China all year round, causing serious damages to landscape trees and incurring a series of secondary disasters. Based on the data of damaged landscape trees in Guangzhou from 2016 to 2018 under typhoon disasters, this research uses the Geographic Information System (GIS) technology and Local Climate Zone (LCZ) to carry out classified statistics on the spatial distribution of damaged landscape trees based on the urban space. Taking into account the damages of trees, it carries out the discussion and analysis of tree species, damage reasons and other issues. The results show that: 1) Bauhinia spp., Ficus microcarpa and Ficus virens are high-risk tree species in typhoon disasters. 2) The damaged trees are mainly located in areas with a building density of 30%~50% and a floor area ratio of 1~4, and most of the LCZ types are compact mid-rise buildings (LCZ 2). 3) In typhoon disasters, the damaged landscape trees are mainly distributed in four types of urban morphological space, namely the low-rise mid-rise high-density area, dense-open area, high-rise building fjord area and urban space around viaduct. This research provides reference for landscape trees maintenance and detection and landscape design in typhoon disasters, so as to reduce the impact of secondary disasters on cities.