Phenological and visual evaluations of some roadside deciduous trees in urban area

Landscape has been referred to ecologically as a patch-corridor-matrix. Road corridors are not only significant in contributing to the urban landscape, but are also of great importance from an ecological point of view. Under pressure from increasing urban population, the density of urban open green areas is diminishing. In urban spaces, plantings along roadside corridors provide a very important positive effect on this density. The main objectives of this study were to identify the morphological changes in some deciduous roadside trees, and to use images of urban roadside plantings of different species, ages and seasonal change potential to identify the visual effects they had on urban motorists. In order to realize these aims, firstly, a number of deciduous trees were observed over a six-year period to determine their morphological changes. Secondly, seasonal changes of Platanus orientalis L. (oriental plane), Aesculus hippocastanum L. (horse chestnut), Liriodendron tulipifera L. (tulip poplar) and Acer negundo L. (boxelder maple) along urban roadsides were photographed over each of the six years. These images were then subjected to a preliminary survey in order to evaluate the questionnaire. The survey itself was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, the images of the trees were evaluated according to the years in order to determine visual preference levels. In the second stage, they were assessed according to seasonal changes in order to define visual quality levels. Consequently, the preference and visual quality levels of the images of the roadside trees as they affected urban motorists were identified and the phenological changes of the trees were determined.Original Abstract: Peyzaj ekolojik olarak leke-matris-koridor kavramalarinin referansi ile ifade edilir. Yol koridorlari kentsel ortamlarin sadece ekoljik degil ayni zamanda gorsel durumun da katki saglayan onemli kentsel yapilardir. Kentler artan nufus bakimindan acik ve yesil alanlarin sikligi yonunden baski altindadir. Yol kenari bitkilendirmeleri bu siklik uzerinde olumlu yonde onemli katilar saglamaktadir. Bu calismanin temel amaci; yol kenarindaki bazi yaprak doken bitkilerin morfolojik degisimlerinin neler olduklarini belirlemek ve bu agaclarin yolu kullananlar uzerindeki gorsel etkilerini mevsimsel degisim ve yaslara gore degisim yonunden ele almaktir. Bu amaclarin gerceklestirilmesi icin; ilk asamada morfolojik degisimlerini belirlemek icin bu agaclar alti yil boyunca gozlemlenmis