Urban Tree Monitoring: Best Practices for Municipalities and Nonprofits

1. Urban Tree Monitoring: Best Practices
for Municipalities and Non-Profits
Partners in Community Forestry
November 17th, 2022
Natalie van Doorn, USFS-PSW Albany, CA
Kasey Yturralde, District Dept. of Transportation, Washington, D.C.
Jeff Ramsey, Portland Parks & Recreation, Portland, OR

2. • Evaluate planting program
performance
• Evaluate factors associated with tree
mortality, growth, and health
• Engage local communities
• Manage pruning cycles and tree risk
Why monitor?
To understand how urban forests change over time

3. Specifically, field-based monitoring of urban trees…

4. Evaluating urban trees can be
challenging …

5. • 2 General Technical Reports (GTRs)
Resources overview

6. • 2 General Technical Reports (GTRs)
– Urban Tree Monitoring: A Field Guide
– Urban Tree Monitoring: A Resource Guide
• 5 training videos
– Getting Started
– Mortality Status
– Trunk Diameter
– Location Methods
– Managing Field Work
Resources overview

7. Planting cohort monitoring
Types of monitoring projects

8. Planting cohort monitoring
Multi-age inventory monitoring
Types of monitoring projects
Pg. 7 of
Resource
Guide

9. Tree Monitoring in the District of Columbia
• Why monitor?
• Urban forestry in the District
of Columbia
• Our story of monitoring
• Challenges
• Lessons learned

10. Why monitor?
• Return on investment
• Understand why trees
die
• Improve planting
protocols to ensure
establishment and
survival

11. Why monitor?
• Return on investment
• Understand why
trees die
• Improve planting
protocols to ensure
establishment and
survival
https://forestadaptation.org/assess/ecosystem-vulnerability/urban

12. Direct management
• Trees on city property
• Public space permits
• Emergency response
Indirect
management
• Tree ordinance
Urban forest management in the District of Columbia

13. 8,000 trees planted.
20,000 trees pruned.
4,000 trees removed.
17,000 requests for service.

14. Research questions and goals
• What is our return on
investment?
• What factors are important in
survival of street trees?
• Improve survival rates of newly
planted trees

15. Monitoring design
Biological
factors
Built
environment
Methodology
Environmental
factors

16. Monitoring design
• Data collection (32 fields)
– Built environment
– Environmental factors
– Biotic factors
• Monitor random sample (10%)
of trees from previous planting
season
• Leveraged complete tree inventory
• Even-aged cohort
Team 1
Team 4
Team 3
Team 2

17. Survival of newly-planted trees

18. Putting survival data to use
• We consistently found trees
with buried root flares
38%
62%
Is the root flare visible?
No Yes
• Consulted the tree survival data
when reviewing out tree list

19. Challenges to data analysis Lagerstroemia indica, 5%
Cercis canadensis, 4%
Nyssa sylvatica, 4%
Quercus bicolor, 3%
Prunus virginiana, 3%
Cladrastis lutea, 3%
Platanus x acerifolia, 3%
Pistacia chinensis, 3%
Quercus lyrata, 3%
Celtis occidentalis, 2%
Syringa reticulata, 2%
Gymnocladus dioicus, 2%
Prunus 'Snow Goose', 2%
Ulmus parvifolia, 2%
Magnolia virginiana, 2%
Quercus phellos, 2%
Ulmus americana 'New
Species diversity of newly-
planted trees, 2014-2020

20. Challenge and lesson learned: data quality checks
Missing data?
Mismatched data?

21. Lessons learned: Reassess your data collection
(do you need all that data?)
Abnormal
foliage
Insect sign (foliage)

22. Lessons learned
• Start data quality checks early and
revisit
• Reassess your data collection
• Assessing species performance can
be challenging
• Have realistic expectations for time
expenditures and constraints

23. PORTLANDPARKS.ORG | Commissioner Carmen Rubio | Director Adena Long
Click to update the date or subtitle – January 1, 2018
Presenter Name, Title
Click to update the date or subtitle – January 1, 2018
Presenter Name, Title
Click to update the date or subtitle – January 1, 2018
Presenter Name, Title
Portland’s Urban Forestry Program
• The City’s Arborist - Operations
• Tree Permits and Regulation
• Science, Outreach, and Planting

24. PORTLANDPARKS.ORG | Commissioner Carmen Rubio | Director Adena Long
2015: New Tree Code, New Funding
2017: Expanded Tree Planting
Programs
• New funding, need for transparency
• New strategy, performance goals
• New programs, need for evaluation
Tree Monitoring in Portland

25. PORTLANDPARKS.ORG | Commissioner Carmen Rubio | Director Adena Long

26. PORTLANDPARKS.ORG | Commissioner Carmen Rubio | Director Adena Long

27. PORTLANDPARKS.ORG | Commissioner Carmen Rubio | Director Adena Long

28. PORTLANDPARKS.ORG | Commissioner Carmen Rubio | Director Adena Long
What you need before you start
• Planting records
• Method of collection
• Defined fields
– Level of detail, precision
– Acceptable range (what counts as “good”
planting depth?)
Tree Monitoring in Portland – Program Structure

29. PORTLANDPARKS.ORG | Commissioner Carmen Rubio | Director Adena Long
Need to know
• Survival during establishment period
• Trees being planted correctly?
• Maintenance and care
• Trees given away being planted?
Want to know
• Species or cultivar performance
• Planting stock issues
• Growth rates
• Long-term survival
Tree Monitoring in Portland – Program Structure

30. PORTLANDPARKS.ORG | Commissioner Carmen Rubio | Director Adena Long
Tree Monitoring in Portland – Program Structure
Base Data: Planting Records
• Planting date
• Planted by
• Species
• Site information
• Planting stock information
Need to know
• Survival during establishment period
• Trees being planted correctly?
• Maintenance and care
• Trees given away being planted?
Want to know
• Species or cultivar performance
• Planting stock issues
• Growth rates
• Long-term survival

31. PORTLANDPARKS.ORG | Commissioner Carmen Rubio | Director Adena Long
Need to know
• Survival during establishment period
• Trees being planted correctly?
• Maintenance and care
• Trees given away being planted?
Want to know
• Species or cultivar performance
• Planting stock issues
• Growth rates
• Long-term survival
Tree Monitoring in Portland – Program Structure
Monitoring Records
• Mortality status
• Canopy vigor
• Diameter
• Diameter height
• Planting depth
• Mulch present

32. PORTLANDPARKS.ORG | Commissioner Carmen Rubio | Director Adena Long
Sample vs. Census
• Sample – will only know what
you build into your study at the
beginning
• Census – much more
information, only works for
smaller programs
How Many Trees Can You Monitor?
Trees monitored on year 1/2/5/10 schedule

33. PORTLANDPARKS.ORG | Commissioner Carmen Rubio | Director Adena Long
What Will Affect Mortality Most?
Street Trees
Park Trees
Yard Trees

34. PORTLANDPARKS.ORG | Commissioner Carmen Rubio | Director Adena Long
• 8,000 monitoring visits since 2018
• 3-4% annual mortality
• Surprising species!
• Planting depth issues
Findings

35. PORTLANDPARKS.ORG | Commissioner Carmen Rubio | Director Adena Long
2021 Heat Dome – Ouch!

36. PORTLANDPARKS.ORG | Commissioner Carmen Rubio | Director Adena Long
Improved Programs

37. PORTLANDPARKS.ORG | Commissioner Carmen Rubio | Director Adena Long
Lesson #1 : You can’t know everything!
Lesson #2: Field work is only half of
your program
Lesson #3: Report your findings!
Lessons Learned

38. PORTLANDPARKS.ORG | Commissioner Carmen Rubio | Director Adena Long
Questions and Discussion
Kasey Yturralde, PhD
Forest Health and Community
Outreach Specialist
Urban Forestry Division
District Dept. of Transportation
Washington, D.C.
kasey.yturralde@dc.gov
Natalie S. van Doorn, PhD
Research Urban Ecologist
USFS Pacific Southwest
Research Station
Albany, CA
natalie.vandoorn@usda.gov
Jeff Ramsey
Science and Policy Specialist
Portland Parks & Recreation
Urban Forestry Division
Portland, OR
jeff.ramsey@portlandoregon.gov