An Assessment of Street Tree Diversity: Findings and Implications in the United States

Ma, Bingqian; Hauer, Richard J.; Wei, Hongxu; Koeser, Andrew K.; Peterson, Ward D.; Simons, Ken; Timilsina, Nilesh; Werner, Les P.; Xu, Chengyang

doi:10.1016/j.ufug.2020.126826

Cited by 29 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Fully deterministic events can be predicted as they are less affected by temporal randomness, at least within the time scale considered (e.g., the recurrence of summertime in the next 50 years, Figure 5). For instance, street tree diversity in the United States changed little in the last 40 years (Ma et al, 2020); as such, without a significant and widespread change in nursery production, plant selection or an unanticipated climate disaster, it is reasonable to anticipate that street tree diversity will remain constant in the next decade or so. On the other hand, stochastic events are random by definition, and as such, it is difficult if not impossible to predict their future occurrence, development, and duration (e.g., a tornado destroying a city, Figure 3).…”

Section: Stochasticity Determinism and Future Castingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Valuing the Role of Time in Urban Ecology

2021

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Cities and towns are complex ecosystems with features that can vary dramatically in space and time. Our knowledge of the spatial structure of urban land and ecological systems is expanding. These systems have been investigated across spatial scales, urban to rural gradients, networks of urban macrosystems, and global megalopolises. However, the temporal dimensions of urban ecosystems – such as those related to ecological cycles and historical legacies – are far less understood and investigated. Here, we outline the main dimensions of time that can shape how events in urban ecosystems unfold, which we categorize as: (i) time flows and duration, (ii) synchrony, lags, and delays, (iii) trends and transitions, (iv) cycles and hysteresis, (v) legacies and priming, (vi) temporal hotspots and hot moments, and (vii) stochastic vs. deterministic processes affecting our ability to forecast the future of cities and the species that live in them. First, we demonstrate the roles of these understudied dimensions by discussing exemplary studies. We then propose key future research directions for investigating how processes over time may regulate the structure and functioning of urban land and biodiversity, as well as its effects on and implications for urban ecology. Our analysis and conceptual framework highlights that several temporal dimensions of urban ecosystems – like those related to temporal hotspots/moments and stochastic vs. deterministic processes – are understudied. This offers important research opportunities to further urban ecology and a comprehensive research agenda valuing the “Urban Chronos” – the change of urban ecosystems through time.

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Section: Stochasticity Determinism and Future Castingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Valuing the Role of Time in Urban Ecology

2021

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“…This is important because many TPI studies focus on programs in large cities with populations of several hundred thousand (Young, 2011;Pincetl et al, 2013;Campbell, 2017). Yet, research shows that population size correlates with a range of variables associated with management of urban trees (Conway and Urbani, 2007;Ries et al, 2007;Rines et al, 2011;Koeser et al, 2016a,b;Harper et al, 2017;Hauer et al, 2018;Ö stberg et al, 2018;Ma et al, 2021). A systematic study of TPIs across municipal scales will help to assess the planting and management of urban trees and the landscapes in which they are located.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traits of a bloom: a nationwide survey of U.S. urban tree planting initiatives (TPIs)

Eisenman

Flanders

Harper

et al. 2021

Urban Forestry & Urban Greening

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Municipal leaders worldwide are showing substantial interest in urban greening. This encompasses incentives, policies, and programs to vegetate urban landscapes, and it often includes urban tree planting initiatives (TPIs). Over the past decade there has been a seven-fold increase in scholarly use of terms denoting TPIs, and roughly two-thirds of associated studies address TPIs in the United States (U.S.). This reflects a bloom of scholarly interest in TPIs. Yet, there has been limited research on contemporary TPIs as historically situated cultural phenomena, and there has to the best of our knowledge been no nationwide survey of TPIs across municipal scales. Addressing these gaps, this article presents findings from a survey of 41 TPIs in the United States. We report on typical traits of U.S. TPIs across six themes: background, dates and goals, public awareness, funding and governance, planting, and stewardship. Respondents identified over 115 traits that distinguish TPIs from typical urban tree planting activity, suggesting that TPIs are a discrete form of urban forestry. Over two-thirds of TPIs are funded separate from traditional urban forestry, and lack of institutionalization raises questions about long-term viability. TPIs mobilize political and financial resources for program launch, tree purchasing, and planting, but there may be a need for greater investment in stewardship activities and the social infrastructure that undergirds green infrastructure. Large shade trees for ecosystem services and native trees are the principal factors informing TPI species lists. Beautification and regulating ecosystem functions are, in turn, the principal potential benefits animating tree planting goals, yet few TPIs have conducted research to assess the fulfillment of associated outcomes. This study provides a foundation for future interdisciplinary scholarship on TPIs across the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences.

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“…For instance, Santamour's (1990) oft-cited 10-20-30 rule suggests that if managers want to limit deforestation due to pests and disease, a given community of trees should be comprised of no more than 10% of a single species, 20% of a single genus, or 30% of a single family by stem count. Despite widespread recognition of the importance of diversity to forestalling major tree losses, a few species dominate the urban forests of many cities (Ma et al 2020). For example, across 188 communities throughout the continental US, only six species accounted for the majority (61.5%) of a given city's street trees, and the single most common species in a given region had a mean abundance of 14% to 23% (Ma et al 2020).…”

Section: The Problem Of Low Urban Tree Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Legacies of past monocultures have made urban forests vulnerable to tremendous losses from pests and pathogens (Campanella 2003;Poland and McCullogh 2006), yet urban forest managers continue to face challenges in bolstering diversification of planting palettes (Hilbert 2021). Although urban foresters have recognized for decades that taxonomic diversity of planted species boosts urban forest resilience (Santamour 1990;Ball and Tyo 2016), most urban communities rely on a relatively small number of species which dominate the total count of public trees (Lohr et al 2016;Ma et al 2020;Galle et al 2021). With increasing attention on urban tree diversity and compositional patterns from both scholars and practitioners (e.g., Jenerette et al 2016;Lohr et al 2016;Steenberg et al 2017;Ordóñez and Duinker 2013), there is a need to advance conceptual understandings of the actors and drivers shaping urban forests.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptualizing the Human Drivers of Low Tree Diversity in Planted Urban Landscapes

Hilbert¹,

Koeser²,

Andreu³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Despite the abundance of tree diversity in the natural world, and generally high tree species richness in urban areas, urban forests continue to be dominated by a limited number of species. As socio-ecological systems, urban forests are shaped by historical and current management efforts and decision-making of a wide range of human actors. Drawing on past research, we offer a conceptual framework for describing the complex interactions among tree producers and consumers as trees are selected, grown, specified, and planted in private and public urban areas. We illustrate how multiple layers of selection criteria filter down the entirety of potential local tree diversity to a handful of commonly used and accepted tree species. We detail the actors and decision makers who impact tree composition and diversity across several land types. Finally, we identify research, education and outreach needs as they relate to creating more diverse and resilient urban forest ecosystems.

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An Assessment of Street Tree Diversity: Findings and Implications in the United States

Cited by 29 publications

References 38 publications

Valuing the Role of Time in Urban Ecology

Valuing the Role of Time in Urban Ecology

Traits of a bloom: a nationwide survey of U.S. urban tree planting initiatives (TPIs)

Conceptualizing the Human Drivers of Low Tree Diversity in Planted Urban Landscapes

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