| Abstract Detail
Conservation Biology McCoy, Dakota [1], Goulet-Scott, Benjamin [2], Meng, Weilin [3], Atahan, Furkan [4], Kiros, Hana [3], Nishino, Misako [5], Kartesz, John [6]. City Tree Communities Across the USA: Urban Ecology and Biodiversity. Urban ecosystems are an underappreciated source of biodiversity. Here, we compiled and anlayzed datasets of city tree communities drawn from tree inventories in 63 of the 150 largest US cities (n > 5 million trees). Our datasets included species, trunk diameter, condition, location, and more. By combining this data with known information about native trees in each US state (from the Biota of North America Project), we assigned a status of native or not to each tree.
First, we found that the percent of trees in a city that were native species strongly correlated with climate, where cities in wetter climates had more native trees than cities in drier climates.
Second, we found that trees within a city were spatially clustered by species (significantly more than what would be expected from random organization).
Third, we observed wide variation in the effective species count in each city.
Fourth, we analyzed whether the condition of a given tree varied according to climate, location, native status, and species.
Finally, we make some inferences about social drivers of tree community composition, such as age of a city and a city's committment to urban forestry.
Taken together, these results demonstrate the importance of citizen science, professional tree inventories in a city, and urban ecology.
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1 - 26 Oxford Street, MCZ #410, Haig Lab, Cambridge, MA 02138, MA, 02138, United States
2 - Harvard University, 1300 Centre Street, Boston, MA, 02131, United States
3 - Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, Massachusetts, 02138, United States
4 - Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Rd, Worcester, MA, 01609
5 - Biota of North America, http://bonap.org/
6 - Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, MCZ #410, Haig Lab, Cambridge, MA 02138, Massachusetts, 02138, United States
Keywords:
none specified
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: CB01, Conservation Biology 1
Location: /
Date: Wednesday, July 21st, 2021
Time: 11:45 AM(EDT)
Number: CB01008
Abstract ID:1109
Candidate for Awards:None |
