by Naomi Zürcher | Nov 8, 2017 | Articles
Source: Bryant C. Scharenbroch, David Carter, Margaret Bialecki, Robert Fahey, LukeScheberl, Michelle Catania, Lara A.Roman, Nina Bassuk, Richard W.Harper, Les Werner, Alan Siewert, Stephanie Miller, Lucy Hutyra, Steve Raciti, “A rapid urban site index for assessing the quality of street tree planting sites,” Urban Forestry & Urban Greening
Stevens Point, WI (September 6, 2017) – Urban trees experience site-induced stress and this leads to reduced growth and health. To help urban forest managers to better match species tolerances and site qualities, a rapid assessment tool has been developed and field tested.
A site assessment tool can be useful to urban forest managers to improve the matching of species tolerances to site qualities, and to assess the efficacy of soil management actions.
Toward this goal, a rapid urban site index (RUSI) model was created and tested for its ability to predict urban tree performance.
The RUSI model is a field-based assessment tool that scores 15 parameters in approximately five minutes. This research was conducted in eight cities throughout the Midwest and Northeast USA to test the efficacy of the RUSI model.
The RUSI model accurately predicted urban tree health and growth metrics (P < 0.0001; R2 0.18–0.40). While the RUSI model did not accurately predict mean diameter growth, it was significantly correlated with recent diameter growth. Certain parameters in the RUSI model, such as estimated rooting area, soil structure and aggregate stability appeared to be more important than other parameters, such as growing degree days.
Minimal improvements in the RUSI model were achieved by adding soil laboratory analyses. Field assessments in the RUSI model were significantly correlated with similar laboratory analyses. Other users may be able to use the RUSI model to assess urban tree planting sites (<5 min per site and no laboratory analyses fee), but training will be required to accurately utilize the model.
Future work on the RUSI model will include developing training modules and testing across a wider geographic area with more urban tree species and urban sites.
by Naomi Zürcher | Nov 8, 2017 | Articles
land–atmosphere interactions from natural and anthropogenic land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) contributions to radiative forcing. (Figure source: Ward et al. 2014 )
In spite of the current US government’s denial of climate change and all the actions that have recently been taken to reinforce that idea, 13 Federal Agencies have just released the First Volume of an authoritative assessment of the science of climate change, mandated by the Global Change Research Act of 1990:
https://science2017.globalchange.gov/
The report clearly documents the following:
“Global annually averaged surface air temperature has increased by about 1.8°F (1.0°C) over the last 115 years (1901–2016). This period is now the warmest in the history of modern civilization. The last few years have also seen record-breaking, climate-related weather extremes, and the last three years have been the warmest years on record for the globe. These trends are expected to continue over climate timescales.
This assessment concludes, based on extensive evidence, that it is extremely likely that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century. For the warming over the last century, there is no convincing alternative explanation supported by the extent of the observational evidence.
In addition to warming, many other aspects of global climate are changing, primarily in response to human activities. Thousands of studies conducted by researchers around the world have documented changes in surface, atmospheric, and oceanic temperatures; melting glaciers; diminishing snow cover; shrinking sea ice; rising sea levels; ocean acidification; and increasing atmospheric water vapor…”
While the focus is the United States, there is much information contained within that is worthy of global dissemination and review, e.g. for those of us concerned with the dramatic shift climate change will have on our urban tree planting palettes, Chapter 10 may be of special interest.
by Naomi Zürcher | Oct 31, 2017 | Events
11.17 Urban Forestry webinar
Title: Urban Forest Master Plans
Date & Time: Wednesday, 1 November, 5:00PM BST, 6:00PM CEST, 7:00PM EEST.
Join Josh Behounek for this one hour presentation that will discuss a variety of valid approaches to Urban Forest master planning using real case studies. Understand the difference between plan goals and outcomes, hear about planning methods and find out the tools that cities use to benchmark a municipal forestry program during this informative Webinar.
Participation in this Webinar has been pre-certified for 1 continuing education unit (CEU), applicable for ISA Certified Arborists, Municipal Specialists and BCMA Management.
Presenter: Josh Behounek, Urban Forestry Services Coordinator, Davey Resource Group
Where: PRE-REGISTRATION is required for this for this Webinar. Please visit:
https://www.anymeeting.com/AccountManager/RegEv.aspx?PIID=ED52DA82884739&utm_source=RC_eNews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Oct2017_MasterPlanWebinar
by Naomi Zürcher | Oct 29, 2017 | Articles
Brain response to various natural triggers
Berlin, Germany (September 20, 2017) – New research says living near a forest, even if you’re in the city, has a positive impact. A long-term study conducted by the Max Planck Institute for Human Development found another key relationship between humans and nature. What does this mean for urban planners?
It’s been confirmed many times that humans are better able to cope with chronic stress and are happier when connected with nature. However, this study finds that forests, in particular, are one of the best remedies.
People living in cities face many physical and psychiatric challenges, including systematically increased rates of illness, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and chronic stress. These rates are all much higher than their country living counterparts. However, the research team sought out whether living near different natural landscapes would help with these illnesses.
The team studied individuals living near urban green spaces, forests, and wastelands to determine its influence on the amygdala, which regulates stress in the brain. The team found significant evidence that city dwellers living near a forest were more likely to have healthy amygdalas and thus better able to manage stress, anxiety, and depression.
Interestingly, the study was not able to find any significant difference in city dwellers that lived near urban green spaces or wastelands. Hence, the team concluded that living near a forest is one of the most significant positive factors urban dwellers can do to reduce stress and increase happiness.
Interesting follow up research may compare living near other natural landscapes compared to forests. The researchers sum it up noting that humans have a “pervasive Pleistocene taste in landscape.” However, with age that preference changes often times to the natural landscape (not cities) each individual spends the most time in.
It is estimated that by the year 2050 70 percent of the world’s population will be living in a city. While the health and psychological downsides to city living are apparent, it is possible to plan for escapes and natural environments nearby cities.
Should a city build a green space, a golf course, or leave the area forested? Those are important questions as cities become more populated and its residents cope with a disconnect from nature. This study and ones to follow can help urban planners develop cities that maximize happiness, efficiency, and opportunity.
Sources: Simone Kühn, Sandra Düzel, Peter Eibich, Christian Krekel, Henry Wüstemann, Jens Kolbe, Johan Martensson, Jan Goebel, Jürgen Gallinat, Gert G. Wagner & Ulman Lindenberger, “In search of features that constitute an ‘enriched environment’ in humans: Associations between geographical properties and brain structure,” Nature Scientific Reports; Trevor Nace, “Living Near A Forest Will Make You Happier, Study Finds,” Forbes
by Naomi Zürcher | Oct 9, 2017 | Articles
More Trees, Less Disease
A University of Vermont-led study of 300,000 children in 35 nations says kids whose watersheds have greater tree cover are less likely to experience diarrheal disease, the second leading cause of death for children under the age of five.
Published in Nature Communications, the study is the first to quantify the connection between watershed quality and individual health outcomes of children at the global scale.
“Looking at all of these diverse households in all these different countries, we find the healthier your watershed upstream, the less likely your kids are to get this potentially fatal disease,” says Taylor Ricketts of UVM’s Gund Institute for Environment.
Read the full study: http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/s41467-017-00775-2
A site assessment tool can be useful to urban forest managers to improve the matching of species tolerances to site qualities, and to assess the efficacy of soil management actions.