Casey Trees’ TS&R gears up for number crunch

One of Casey Trees’ newest directors understands the importance of research and assessment as a means to both evaluate past performance and strive for ways to improve.

“There are so many elements of our field that are still in the building stages, in terms of true research and understanding,” said Jessica Sanders, new director of Technical Service & Research (TS&R). ”We at Casey Trees are trying to use this opportunity we have, planting all these trees and working towards that 40 percent (UTC), to also learn – to create better metrics, become more accurate, and fine-tune best practices to sustain our trees’ lives, and better the city.”

Tree plantings achieve one of Casey Trees’ goals – to connect people to trees. However, if no data is collected on whether these trees survive into the future, then no evaluation of the program’s success in the long term can be determined. A common misconception of tree establishment in urban areas is that a goal of 100% survival is realistic and ideal. Urban foresters have an expectation of trees dying each year, but a baseline should be determined to manage expectations.

Casey Trees designed its mortality study to track cohorts of trees to determine an establishment period and better understand the conditions that affect tree survival and mortality. By increasing our understanding, better management recommendations that replicate the favorable factors (increasing survival of the trees and decreasing mortality) can be made.

The long-term study will track a 50% sample of Casey Trees trees planted from 2003 to present. TS&R’s goal is to each year add more trees to continually evaluate and assess tree planting practices. A typical sample for a similar study done elsewhere would only track roughly 10-15% of trees planted, but true to Casey Trees’ capacity and drive, TS&R believes we can do more.

A total of 2,653 trees will be visited in 2012 and various data will be collected to determine tree health, tree size, and socioeconomic factors. Using the Urban Forest Effects Model (UFORE), Casey Trees will assess ecological benefits, including carbon sequestration, pollution abatement, and value associated with urban trees. This study will not only help advance the knowledge of urban tree mortality and establishment periods, but also provide a means to emphasize the value of urban trees with empirical data while lending insight to future planting decisions.

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