20 Cowett et al: Tracking Changes to Urban Trees over 100 Years in Ithaca, NY, USA will promote tree health and sustainability and help to preserve the environmental, social, and economic benefits they provide. Despite this change and prog- ress, challenges still remain. The city’s ash and hem- lock trees (2.90% and 1.47% of all street and park trees in 2019, respectively) continue to be threatened by the emerald ash borer and hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA)(Adelges tsugae). The Asian longhorned bee- tle and spotted lanternfly (SLF)(Lycorma delicatula) could pose even more serious threats, since both are polyphagous pests, and the ALB’s preferred host genus is maple; the ALB has not been found in Ithaca as of yet, but an SLF infestation was discovered in November 2020. Oak wilt disease, which is caused by the fungus Bretziella fagacearum and has been found 60 miles (96.5 km) away in Canadaigua, New York, is another concern, particularly since tree diver- sification in Ithaca has been based in part on increas- ing the number and variety of oaks being planted. While the increase in average minimum winter tem- peratures has allowed tree species such as southern magnolia to be planted in Ithaca, it also creates addi- tional stress on urban trees, such as longer periods of drought and more intense precipitation events, which can negatively impact tree health and survivability (Yang 2009; Tubby and Webber 2010). Whether San- tamour’s 10-20-30 rule or the 5% limit on street tree species recommended by Ithaca’s 1987 street tree management plan and Ball (2015) are adopted as benchmarks, additional work needs to be done to fur- ther diversify the street tree population and, more specifically, to reduce the number of Norway maple and maple trees. Although street tree density and stocking levels exceed the national averages reported by Hauer and Peterson (2016), more new trees need to be planted and, where possible, consideration should be given to replacing larger growing tree spe- cies with other larger growing tree species in order to maximize the benefits provided by urban trees. While the money spent to manage Ithaca’s street and park trees has exceeded state and national averages, the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly reduced city reve- nues and could result in cuts to municipal services and staffing (Anbinder 2020). Finally, street and park trees should continue to be inventoried on a regular, periodic basis, utilizing metrics consistent with previ- ous inventories so as to provide the information nec- essary for effective resource management and for safeguarding the investment made by the city in its municipal tree population. ©2021 International Society of Arboriculture LITERATURE CITED Anbinder MH. 2020. Grim budget cuts ahead for city services, says City of Ithaca. 14850 Today. [Accessed 15 June 2020]. https://www.14850.com/061214266-ithaca-reduction-services Arbor Day Foundation. 2019. 2018 Tree City USA Communities. Lincoln (NE, USA): The Arbor Day Foundation. [Accessed 14 June 2020]. https://www.arborday.org/programs/treecityusa/ directory.cfm Baker FA. 1993. Monitoring the urban forest: Case studies and evaluations. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. 26:153-163. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00547493 Ball J. 2015. The 5 percent rule. American Nurseryman. January: 8-11. Bassett JR, Lawrence WC. 1975. Status of street tree inventories in the U.S. Journal of Arboriculture. 1(3):48-52. Berland A, Hopton ME. 2016. Asian longhorned beetle complicates the relationship between taxonomic diversity and pest vulner- ability in street tree assemblages. Arboricultural Journal. 38(1):28-40. https://doi.org/10.1080/03071375.2016.1157305 Boone CG, Cadenasso ML, Grove JM, Schwarz K, Buckley GL. 2010. Landscape, vegetation characteristics, and group iden- tity in an urban and suburban watershed: Why the 60s matter. Urban Ecosystems. 13:255-271. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s11252-009-0118-7 Bray JR, Curtis JT. 1957. An ordination of the upland forest com- munities of Southern Wisconsin. Ecological Monographs. 27:325-349. https://doi.org/10.2307/1942268 Buzas MA, Gibson TG. 1969. Species diversity: Benthonic fora- minifera in western North Atlantic. Science. 163:72-75. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.163.3862.72 CEC (Commission for Environmental Cooperation). 2009. Ecoregions of North America. Washington (DC, USA): United States Environmental Protection Agency. [Accessed 6 June 2020]. https://www.epa.gov/eco-research/ecoregions -north-america Clark JR, Matheny NP, Cross G, Wake V. 1997. A model of urban forest sustainability. Journal of Arboriculture. 23(1):17-30. Colwell RK. 2009. Biodiversity: Concepts, patterns, and measure- ment. In: Levin SA, Carpenter SR, Godfray HCJ, Kinzig AP, Loreau M, Losos JB, Walker B, and Wilcove DS, editors. The Princeton guide to ecology. Princeton (NJ, USA): Princeton University Press. 848 p. Cowett FD, Bassuk NL. 2014. Statewide assessment of street trees in New York State, USA. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. 13:213-220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2014.02.001 Cowett FD, Bassuk NL. 2020. Street tree diversity in Massachu- setts, U.S.A. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry. 46(1):27-43. Crown CA, Greer BZ, Gift DM, Watt FS. 2018. Every tree counts: Reflections on NYC’s third volunteer street tree inventory. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry. 44(2):49-58. Cumming AB, Twardus DB, Nowak DJ. 2008. Urban forest health monitoring: Large-scale assessments in the United States. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry. 34(6):341-346. Dawson JO, Khawaja MA. 1985. Change in street-tree composi- tion of two Urbana, Illinois neighborhoods after fifty years: 1932–1982. Journal of Arboriculture. 11(11):344-348. Denig BR. 2014. Ithaca’s trees: Master plan, inventory, & arbo- ricultural guidelines for the public trees of the City of Ithaca,
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