Street Tree Diversity in Massachusetts, USA

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-43
Author(s):  
F.D. Cowett ◽  
Nina Bassuk
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Tree Diversity ◽  
Asian Longhorned Beetle ◽  
Street Trees ◽  
Tree Population ◽  
Tree Inventory ◽  
Street Tree ◽  
Tree Survival ◽  
Considerable Work

Pests, disease, and climate change pose major challenges to street tree survival, and diversity in tree species and genera is widely considered to promote the sustainability of municipal street tree populations. Conversely, the lack of sufficient diversity in street tree population was judged a contributing factor in the death and removal of thousands of street trees in Worcester, Massachusetts, that state’s second most populous city, due to an infestation of the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB, Anoplophora glabripennis). Therefore, reducing the dominance of prevalent street tree species and genera and increasing tree species and genera diversity are considered vital to sustainable street tree management and to the preservation of the ecosystem services and social benefits that street trees provide. This paper assesses street tree diversity in Massachusetts by analyzing a nonrandom sample of collated municipal street tree inventory data stratified by plant hardiness zones. Consistent with results previously found for Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, results in Massachusetts indicate that a relatively small number of species and genera dominate the composition of most municipal street tree populations, including in particular Acer spp. (maple), one of the ALB’s favorite host genera. There is accordingly a need for greater species and genus diversity in municipal street tree populations statewide. While there may be a trend towards increased street tree diversity and reduction in the dominance of Acer spp., considerable work remains to be done.

Is Street Tree Diversity Increasing in New York State, USA?

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 196-213
Author(s):  
F.D. Cowett ◽  
N.L. Bassuk
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Diversity Index ◽  
New York State ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Tree Diversity ◽  
Urban Trees ◽  
Street Trees ◽  
York State ◽  
Street Tree

Diversity in tree populations is viewed as essential for protecting the public investment in urban trees and for preserving the environmental, social, and economic benefits that these trees provide. It is therefore crucial for officials responsible for the management of municipal trees to know the diversity of their municipal tree populations and whether their efforts to increase diversity have been effective or should be modified. We assessed street tree diversity in New York State, USA by analyzing municipal street tree inventory data from two data sets, the first comprised of 75 inventories collated from municipalities, and the second comprised of 32 sets of inventories conducted at multiple points in time. This analysis builds on two previous papers containing similar assessments by analyzing more current data and by calculating diversity index statistics and relative abundance percentages for prevalent street tree species and genera. Findings indicate that there has been substantial progress to increase street tree diversity in New York State. This progress is correlated with reductions in the dominance of Norway maple (Acer platanoides), the state’s most prevalent street tree species (17% of street trees statewide), and in the dominance of maple (Acer), the state’s most prevalent street tree genus (35% of street trees statewide). Work remains to be done to further increase species and genus diversity so as to meet the challenges posed to municipal street tree populations by invasive pests and climate change. Strategies are proposed for accomplishing this.

scholarly journals An Analysis of the Street Tree Population of Greater Melbourne at the Beginning of the 21st Century

2006 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 155-163
Author(s):  
Stephen Frank ◽  
Glenn Waters ◽  
Russell Beer ◽  
Peter May
Keyword(s):  
Data Sets ◽  
Botanical Composition ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Prunus Cerasifera ◽  
Tree Population ◽  
Tree Inventory ◽  
Street Tree ◽  
The Family ◽  
Family Level ◽  
Prunus Spp

An audit of the street tree population of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, was undertaken to establish its size and botanical composition as a reference point for future studies. The 31 independent municipalities that comprise metropolitan Melbourne were approached to provide information on their respective street tree populations. Where available, data from individual municipalities on population, area, and total street length were also collected. Of the 31 municipalities surveyed, 23 had undertaken some form of street tree inventory or audit. These individual data sets were combined into a single database. Data queries were then undertaken to obtain a range of information. A total of 922,353 trees, comprising 1127 taxa, were captured in this superset of data. Australian native plants made up the majority of the trees with 60% of the total. Of the Australian native taxa, wattles (Acacia spp.), gums or eucalypts (Eucalyptus spp.), paperbarks (Melaleuca spp.), bottlebrush (Callistemon spp.), and Queensland brush box (Lophostemon confertus [R. Br.] Peter G. Wilson and Waterhouse) comprised 394,730 individuals (43% of all trees). Of the exotic taxa, Prunus spp. were the most common with 86,227 individuals (9% of the total). Queensland brush box was the most common taxon surveyed with 61,959 individuals. Purple-leaf cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera Ehrh. ‘Nigra’) was the most common exotic taxon with 35,402 individuals. An analysis of the diversity of this population showed that it meets a set of minimum diversity criteria apart from the dominance of the Myrtaceae at the family level.

scholarly journals Mobile Terrestrial Photogrammetry for Street Tree Mapping and Measurements

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 701 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Roberts ◽  
Andrew Koeser ◽  
Amr Abd-Elrahman ◽  
Benjamin Wilkinson ◽  
Gail Hansen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Point Cloud ◽  
Coordinate Systems ◽  
Street Trees ◽  
Urban Street ◽  
Tree Management ◽  
Tree Inventory ◽  
Street Tree ◽  
Wide Scale ◽  
Individual Trees ◽  
Urban Sites

Urban forests are often heavily populated by street trees along right-of-ways (ROW), and monitoring efforts can enhance municipal tree management. Terrestrial photogrammetric techniques have been used to measure tree biometry, but have typically used images from various angles around individual trees or forest plots to capture the entire stem while also utilizing local coordinate systems (i.e., non-georeferenced data). We proposed the mobile collection of georeferenced imagery along 100 m sections of urban roadway to create photogrammetric point cloud datasets suitable for measuring stem diameters and attaining positional x and y coordinates of street trees. In a comparison between stationary and mobile photogrammetry, diameter measurements of urban street trees (N = 88) showed a slightly lower error (RMSE = 8.02%) relative to non-mobile stem measurements (RMSE = 10.37%). Tree Y-coordinates throughout urban sites for mobile photogrammetric data showed a lower standard deviation of 1.70 m relative to 2.38 m for a handheld GPS, which was similar for X-coordinates where photogrammetry and handheld GPS coordinates showed standard deviations of 1.59 m and the handheld GPS 2.36 m, respectively—suggesting higher precision for the mobile photogrammetric models. The mobile photogrammetric system used in this study to create georeferenced models for measuring stem diameters and mapping tree positions can also be potentially expanded for more wide-scale applications related to tree inventory and monitoring of roadside infrastructure.

Tracking Changes to Urban Trees over 100 Years in Ithaca, NY, USA

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-24
Author(s):  
F.D. Cowett ◽  
N.L. Bassuk ◽  
J. Grace ◽  
K. Vorstadt
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Size Class ◽  
Urban Trees ◽  
Size Class Distribution ◽  
Class Distribution ◽  
Legacy Effect ◽  
Tree Population ◽  
Tree Inventory

Municipally managed urban trees provide environmental, social, and economic benefits. Continued provision of these benefits depends on the health and sustainability of these trees, which depends in turn on tree managers having the type of information usually found in a tree inventory. The city of Ithaca, New York, USA possesses 7 inventories of its street and park trees dating back to 1902. This paper uses the data contained in these inventories to assess the health and sustainability of the city’s street and park tree populations. Attention is given to the structure of these populations with emphasis placed on species and genera diversity and DBH size class distributions. Prior to 1987, the city’s municipal tree population was dominated by a few species, such as Norway maple (Acer platanoides), and genera such as maples (Acer) and elms (Ulmus), and the DBH size class distribution was skewed unsustainably towards older trees. From 1987 onwards, new plantings have significantly increased species and genera diversity, and the DBH size class distribution suggests sufficient younger trees to account for tree mortality and removals. These changes did not occur quickly due to the persistent legacy effect of past planting preferences and practices, but required a consistent effort by municipal tree managers over many years. As a result, based on an analysis of the most recent tree inventory conducted in 2019, the city’s street and park trees and the benefits they provide look to be on a more sustainable footing, although challenges still remain.

scholarly journals Classification of Street Tree Species Using UAV Tilt Photogrammetry

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 216
Author(s):  
Yutang Wang ◽  
Jia Wang ◽  
Shuping Chang ◽  
Lu Sun ◽  
Likun An ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Machine Learning ◽  
Bp Neural Network ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Street Trees ◽  
Species Classification ◽  
Machine Learning Classification ◽  
Tree Species Classification ◽  
Street Tree

As an important component of the urban ecosystem, street trees have made an outstanding contribution to alleviating urban environmental pollution. Accurately extracting tree characteristics and species information can facilitate the monitoring and management of street trees, as well as aiding landscaping and studies of urban ecology. In this study, we selected the suburban areas of Beijing and Zhangjiakou and investigated six representative street tree species using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) tilt photogrammetry. We extracted five tree attributes and four combined attribute parameters and used four types of commonly-used machine learning classification algorithms as classifiers for tree species classification. The results show that random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), and back propagation (BP) neural network provide better classification results when using combined parameters for tree species classification, compared with those using individual tree attributes alone; however, the K-nearest neighbor (KNN) algorithm produced the opposite results. The best combination for classification is the BP neural network using combined attributes, with a classification precision of 89.1% and F-measure of 0.872, and we conclude that this approach best meets the requirements of street tree surveys. The results also demonstrate that optical UAV tilt photogrammetry combined with a machine learning classification algorithm is a low-cost, high-efficiency, and high-precision method for tree species classification.

scholarly journals Citizens’ Preference and Perception of Street Trees of Main Boulevards in Busan, South Korea

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3141
Author(s):  
Sang Seup Kim ◽  
Jae-Song Lee ◽  
Dong Hak Lee ◽  
Yeol Choi
Keyword(s):  
Tree Species ◽  
Selection Criteria ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Effective Management ◽  
Street Trees ◽  
Affective Evaluation ◽  
Street Tree ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Urban Greenspaces ◽  
Positive Feelings

Street tree species are selected mainly based on functional utility. This selection practice results in effective management. If the value of street trees as perceived by citizens is added to the existing selection criteria, satisfaction will be improved in addition to effective management. This study attempted to find a way to reflect citizens’ values in street tree selection criteria through empirical analysis. A preference survey and the visual and affective evaluation of 12 street tree species in Busan Metropolitan City were conducted. With the collected data, principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to draw common factors of evaluation. Additionally, multidimensional scaling (MDS) was used to group tree species that were considered similar. The study results revealed that citizens prefer species that provide visually positive feelings and intimacy. Some species appropriate for urban greenspaces are not preferred for street trees. Although a low level of nuisance is an important aspect of street trees, citizens do not prefer species that are excessively free from nuisance. When selecting species with a polarized preference, dealing with undesired aspects is required. It is necessary to acknowledge the different preferences of citizens and street tree authorities; reflecting citizens’ values can provide more citizen-friendly street plans.

scholarly journals Street Tree Inventory of Campinas, Brazil: An Instrument for Urban Forestry Management and Planning

2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan André Alvarez ◽  
Bruna Cristina Gallo ◽  
Edlene Aparecida Monteiro Garçon ◽  
Osvaldo Tadatomo Oshiro
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Images ◽  
Urban Forestry ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Street Trees ◽  
Urban Street ◽  
Palm Trees ◽  
Forestry Management ◽  
Tree Inventory ◽  
Street Tree

Campinas Metropolitan Region is the third richest city in Brazil. This study assesses the urban street trees of Campinas based on data from a survey performed using satellite images in the year 2011. All public domain trees in the street system were counted and separated into trees, shrubs, palm trees, and seedlings. The density of trees was obtained using the images census and expressed as trees per linear kilometer for the perimeter of the block. The number of trees per linear kilometer was grouped into nine classes of different densities for data validation. The final number of trees was estimated based on the validation’s results. The Gini coefficient shows that the number of trees per person is very irregular in city neighborhoods (i.e., Campinas has a fairer income distribution than street trees distribution). There is a lower density of trees in the downtown area, due to the high concentration of population, and in more peripheral neighborhoods, due to the lack of design planning. The results obtained here may be used to support a new setting of local priorities for planting actions aimed at urban forestry management.

scholarly journals Diversity of Tree Species in the District Science Centre Campus, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu

2020 ◽  
pp. 218-227
Author(s):  
P V Priya ◽  
G S Rekha ◽  
A Saravana Ganthi
Keyword(s):  
Tree Species ◽  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Tree Diversity ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Floristic Survey ◽  
The Public ◽  
Tree Population ◽  
Science Centre ◽  
Green Campus

District Science Centre campus is not only a green lung for Tirunelveli City, but also aimed to create awareness about the biodiversity among the public. District Science Centre is committed towards developing a green campus, and established a Garden in achieving the commitment. It is the centre for higher learning, being both recreational and educative role; it will continually host a human population consisting of students and common public. The present study focused on tree diversity and their abundance in District Science Centre, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India. An extensive floristic survey was conducted in 2019. The results of tree diversity in District Science Centre campus showed 80 tree species. Among 80 species confined in 34 families and 68 genera, Polyalthia longofolia was the most dominant and frequent species in the study area. A total of 75 tree species represented by dicot and belong to 63 genera and 32 families were recorded. Out of the identified species, 5 tree species are monocot and belongs to 5 genera and 2 families. In the present study 14 families reported with only one species, 13 families represented by more than 2 species. During the study several anthropogenic activities exploited the tree population in the campus. Still Campus area is was still quite barren, so the entire campus should be lush greenery by new initiative on garden development.

scholarly journals Frequency and Severity of Trunk Decay in Street Tree Maples in Four New York Cities

2009 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-99
Author(s):  
Christopher Luley ◽  
David Nowak ◽  
Eric Greenfield
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Size Class ◽  
Tree Size ◽  
Street Trees ◽  
Silver Maple ◽  
Sugar Maples ◽  
Street Tree ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Diameter Classes ◽  
Selection Of

A proportional random selection of street tree Norway, silver, and sugar maples, and other species among four diameter classes were surveyed in the U.S.’ New York cities of Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse for decay incidence and severity. Decay was determined by drilling sampled trees with a Resistograph and calculating the ratio of sound wood to radius. Overall, 58.3% of the sampled trees had some amount of decay and incidence was highest in sugar maples and in the largest size class trees. However, decay incidence was high (53.2%) even in the smallest diameter tree size class (30.5–45.7cm (12–18 in). Decay severity was greatest in silver maple and in the largest diameter trees, although only 3.2% of the trees sampled had serious decay. The study shows that decay is common in street trees but is seldom severe. It also suggests that decay becomes established early in the life of street trees but is most severe in larger diameter trees and in trees that compartmentalize decay poorly such as silver maple. The frequency and severity of decay in the cities studied indicates that they need to continue to identify and manage trees with decay.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document