196 Cowett and Bassuk: Is Street Tree Diversity Increasing in New York State, USA? Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 2021. 47(5):196–213 https://doi.org/10.48044/jauf.2021.018 URBAN FORESTRY ARBORICULTURE Scientific Journal of the International Society of Arboriculture & Is Street Tree Diversity Increasing in New York State, USA? By F.D. Cowett and N.L. Bassuk Abstract. Diversity in tree populations is viewed as essential for protecting the public investment in urban trees and for preserving the environ- mental, social, and economic benefits that these trees provide. It is therefore crucial for officials responsible for the management of municipal trees to know the diversity of their municipal tree populations and whether their efforts to increase diversity have been effective or should be modified. We assessed street tree diversity in New York State, USA by analyzing municipal street tree inventory data from two data sets, the first comprised of 75 inventories collated from municipalities, and the second comprised of 32 sets of inventories conducted at multiple points in time. This analysis builds on two previous papers containing similar assessments by analyzing more current data and by calculating diversity index statistics and relative abundance percentages for prevalent street tree species and genera. Findings indicate that there has been substantial progress to increase street tree diversity in New York State. This progress is correlated with reductions in the dominance of Norway maple (Acer platanoides), the state’s most prevalent street tree species (17% of street trees statewide), and in the dominance of maple (Acer), the state’s most prevalent street tree genus (35% of street trees statewide). Work remains to be done to further increase species and genus diversity so as to meet the challenges posed to municipal street tree populations by invasive pests and climate change. Strategies are proposed for accomplishing this. Keywords. Climate Change; Diversity Index; Invasive Pests; Municipal Trees; Norway Maple. INTRODUCTION Biodiversity contributes to the stability of biological systems in the face of environmental change (Ives and Carpenter 2007). In the field of urban forestry, and particularly with respect to municipally managed street and park trees, diversity in tree populations is viewed as fundamental to the planning and management required to protect the public investment in urban trees and to preserve the environmental, social, and economic bene- fits trees provide (Morgenroth et al. 2016). Tree diver- sity was not always emphasized as a management imperative in the United States. The City Beautiful movement at the beginning of the 20th century advo- cated for uniform plantings of the same tree species along streets to increase a city’s “stateliness, impres- siveness, and charm” (Robinson 1901). Such planting practices, which date back to the garden allées of 16th century Europe (Lawrence 1988), may have been aes- thetically pleasing, but, by encouraging the overplanting of certain tree species, they rendered large proportions of municipally managed trees vulnerable to an insect or disease (Raupp et al. 2006). This vulnerability was ©2021 International Society of Arboriculture demonstrated by the devastation wrought, beginning in the 1930s, by Dutch elm disease (DED, Ophiostoma ulmi) on the American elm (Ulmus americana), which had been planted in large numbers as a street tree in many municipalities (Campanella 2003). More recently, the emerald ash borer (EAB, Agrilus planipennis) has decimated many tree-lined streets, especially in the Midwest, where ash (Fraxinus spp.) were often planted to replace American elms (Poland and McCullough 2006); the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB, Anoplo- phora glabripennis) has threatened trees in the North- east, where maple (Acer spp.), one of its favorite hosts, is the most prevalent street tree genus (Cowett and Bassuk 2017); the spotted lanternfly (SLF, Lycorma delicatula) prefers feeding on tree-of-heaven (Ailan- thus altissima), but feeds as well on maple, cherry (Prunus spp.), and apple (Malus spp.)(Urban 2020); and oak wilt (Bretziella fagacearum) kills many spe- cies of oak (Quercus spp.), with trees in the red oak family especially susceptible (Juzwik et al. 2011). Climate change is expected to additionally endanger urban trees by increasing temperatures (Lohr et al.
September 2021
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