peeking beneath the canopy: insights from using i-tree eco to monitor burlington’s urban forest
TRANSCRIPT
Peeking Beneath the Canopy
Insights from using i-Tree Eco to monitor Burlington’s urban forest
James Duncan, Aswini Cherukuri and Emily Van WagonerDecember 12, 2013
i-Tree Eco
• Detailed plot-based survey to assess overall state of urban forest
• 200 random points across city
• Tree condition and physiology, plot cover mixes, building interactions
Involving UVM students through service-learning
Tree health
• 1026 trees on 159 plots surveyed
• Estimated 68.8 trees/acre and over 180,000 trees in Burlington
• Around 30% canopy cover (slightly low)
Land use and tree density
Ecosystem Services - Air pollution mitigation
Carbon Monoxide, $513
Nitrogen dioxide, $1,082
Ozone, $61,496
Medium particulate
(10um), $241,988
Small particulates (2.5um), $198,46
0
Sulfur dioxide, $63
Ecosystem Services - Carbon sequestration
Courtesy of Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Sugar maple
sequesters 21.7% of
all carbon taken up by
Burlington trees
Red oak stores the
most, holding 16.5% of
Burlington’s tree-bound
carbon
Courtesy of City of Augusta, GA
Outline
• Data from the class
• Data from all classes
• What it tells us
• What we’ll do next
•
Next Steps
• Build out ability to use i-Tree Eco as a monitoring tool
• Develop better year-to-year plot system
• Develop change analysis products
• Improve customization for students
Exploring sampling along forest gradient
VMC Intensive Site at Mt. Mansfield
• Ecological communities
• Development pressure
• Elevation
• Others?Current i-Tree
Survey
Exploring statewide monitoring using i-Tree Eco methodology
• Possible integration with Forest Inventory and Analysis plots
Thank you!
Contact: [email protected]