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February 2023
NCUFC eNews
Protecting, Sustaining, Advocating
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NC Community Tree Webinar: Protecting Roots and Soil During Development
Presenter...
Kelby Fite, Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories, Vice President and Director
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21 February 2023, 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.
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NC Community Tree Webinar: Volunteer Tree Nurseries
Presenters...
Eric Bradford, Asheville Green Works, Director of Operations
Megan Higgins Palomo, Tree Pittsburgh Heritage Nursery, Director
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21 March 2023, 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.
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Carolina Canopy Workshop: Foundational Skills Road Show
Presenters...
Jeffery Kish, Bartlett Tree Experts, Assistant Division Manager
Barb Fair, NCSU Associate Professor and Cooperative Extension Specialist
Manufacture reps, Husqvarna and Vermeer
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Thursday 23 March 2023, 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., NCSU Horticulture Field Laboratory, Raleigh
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Thursday 13 October 2023, 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Watauga County Extension Service Conference Center, Boone
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UPCOMING PARNTER EVENTS
NC Bradford Pear Bounty 2023 Events
In 2023, the Council is joining forces again with the NC Cooperative Extension, NC Forest Service and NC Wildlife Federation to help landowners swap a Bradford pear tree for a native North Carolina Tree.
- Saturday 18 March, Wake Forest
- Saturday 22 April, Newton (Catawba County)
- TBD, Wilmington
- Saturday 28 October, Sanford
If you wish to volunteer, contact Leslie Moorman.
You can now follow NC Bradford Pear Bounty on Facebook.
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UPCOMING EXTERNAL EVENTS
USFS Urban Forest Connections Webinar Series
This series features expert discussions on the newest developments in urban forestry -- science, practice and policy. The 2023 themes are...
- Climate change resilience and adaptation (Spring 2023)
- Mitigating urban heat (Summer 2023)
- Racial equity and environmental justice (Fall 2023)
Webinars occur every other month, starting in February 2023, and are held on the second Wednesday from 1:00 to 2:15 p.m. (EST). Past webinars are available for public viewing.
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Earlier this month NCUFC issued digital membership cards to all 2023 members. These cards were distributed in PDF form only. Next year we hope to use a format that lets individuals upload their membership card to a digital wallet on a smartphone.
Are you a 2023 member but missing your membership card? Email the Program Assistant today.
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Not a 2023 NCUFC member? Join/renew today! You will save money when registering for our monthly webinars, seasonal workshops, and annual conference. Additionally, you can soon join a job board and listserv that NCUFC is establishing. | | |
Urban Soils
by Dr. Barb Fair, NCSU Associate Professor and Extension Specialist for Landscaping, Arboriculture & Urban Greening
When you think of life, you should think of soil. That is, if you are an animal that relies on plants to live, which I am guessing you do. We so seldom think about soil, except when it becomes dirt and we need to break out the hose to clean the dog (that just had to roll in the mud) or the Tide to clean our clothes.
We need to be thinking more about soil, though. We need to ponder the fact that it took millions of years to become soil, supports life on this planet, and sequesters tons of carbon (and we need that storage capability more and more). What the Earth took millions of years to create we can destroy by
simply turning the key on that grader and making a place for our structures. Those earth-created soils have horizons, lots of macro- and microfauna, organic matter and microbes to break it down, and aggregation. What we leave behind after construction is nothing like those native soils, and so we came up with a new name for it- URBAN SOILS.
These urban soils do not necessarily behave like the native ones. They lack organic matter. They can’t support much microbe populations, and certainly have no structure arranged in horizons. They often hold too much water, are compacted, and cannot really support thriving trees. Notice, I said "thriving",
not "surviving". We remove all the organic matter and topsoil yet expect trees to grow in subsoils that will not even support turf grass and barely weeds. When the trees do not perform, we say, "Oh well. At least they are alive." However, what if we were to protect those soils from the ravages of the dozer, or chose to remediate what we left behind? What could we do then? Not only could our trees thrive, but also we could likely choose a lot more species to plant in those tough urban areas.
How do we get there? Not necessarily by taking out all of the soil and “designing” something new, but by renovating the soil. The practice of adding organic matter really works, but we do not necessarily need to add all new soil. Folks have suggested three main methods. Here they are:
- Age-old method: Add add about 2-4” of organic matter to the surface of the soil and till it in as deeply as possible. Been done forever, and works! It is also has the lowest price tag.
- Add 4-7” of organic matter to the surface of the soil and then use a backhoe bucket to scoop it up and drop it, thereby breaking it up and hopefully encouraging aggregation.
- Add 4” of organic matter to the surface and then use a backhoe bucket to scoop it up and drop it, thereby breaking it up, and then add a 4-8” of topsoil over the site and till it in. The idea is to create veins of organic matter and topsoil down through the subsoil profile. Finish the project off by planting trees. This takes time and is the most expensive, but over time it is most likely to get you closer to that native soil.
The key is to DO SOMETHINIG! Let’s create spaces where trees will thrive, rather than simply survive. Your grandkids and their grandkids will thank you!
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Meet our seasonal NCUFC intern!
Hi everyone! My name is Emma Howrilla, and I am an intern with NCUFC through May. I am a senior at NC State majoring in Science, Technology, and Society (STS) with a specialty in Sustainable Cities and Communities, and a minor in Horticultural Science.
My role in NCUFC is to create a blog geared towards young adults, specifically to help bridge the gap and bring awareness to the field of urban forestry and the knowledge, careers, and community it has to offer! I am super
excited to begin this blog and get to know professionals in the field who care about and want to spread knowledge about our urban environment.
A little extra about me is I am from Chesapeake, Virginia, and love being so close to the beach and spending my summers there. I enjoy playing tennis, doing arts and crafts, and lounging around. I have always had an appreciation for nature, and I cannot wait to help others expand their knowledge of our urban ecosystem.
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NCFS sample tree inventories & canopy cover assessments programs
by, Andy Pleninger, NCFS Urban & Community Forestry Program Head
The N.C. Forest Service (NCFS) has partnered with the N.C. Urban Forest Council and PlanIT Geo, an urban forestry consulting firm, to provide sample tree inventories and tree canopy cover assessments on demand for North Carolina municipalities. A request for applications is currently open for these
services through our NCFS Urban and Community Forestry Financial Assistance Program.
Canopy Cover Assessment
A tree canopy cover assessment uses aerial photographs and other types of imagery to quantify the area of a community covered by tree canopy and other land cover features. The results are mapped, providing the information in a visual format that is easy for everyone to understand.
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These analyses are used for planning purposes to set tree canopy cover goals, monitor change over time and identify where to plant trees. The ecosystem service benefits the tree canopy provides to the community are also calculated. | |
This is a great tool for all municipalities but particularly those early in the urban forestry planning stage because it provides management information about the entire urban forest, public and private, in an easily understood visual format.
Sample Tree Inventory
A sample tree inventory is a statistically valid sample of the public trees in a municipality. The results provide good estimates of the numbers of street trees and park trees in the population, tree species, management needs and other management information for planning purposes.
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It is a good tool for a municipality beginning to develop a management plan and/or for municipalities that do not have the capacity to complete and maintain a complete tree inventory. A sample inventory can also be used as a storm damage assessment tool. The same sample plots are inventoried after a community-wide event, and the data can be used to estimate the amount of damage and needs to mitigate the damage.
Visit ncforestservice.gov to learn more about this program.
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European studies yield more evidence for health benefits of city trees and green spaces | |
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Tamar Iungman et al. (2023) calculated the death rates of urban inhabitants across 93 European cities (57 million people in total) between June and August 2015. We found that 6,700 premature deaths during this period were linked to [the urban heat island effect (UHI)].
Several strategies exist to protect urban residents from the impacts of heat. These include covering roof and facades in vegetation (green roofs), decorating them in lighter colours, and replacing paved surfaces with areas of vegetation. Our modeling revealed that one-third (2,644) of UHI deaths in Europe could be prevented by increasing tree canopy cover to 30% in every urban neighbourhood.
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Turunen et al. (2023) found lower use of drugs for depression, anxiety, insomnia, high blood pressure, and asthma among urban residents who often visit green spaces—regardless of their income or level of education.
The Finnish team said that the frequency of visits to urban green spaces, rather than simply viewing them from your house, was key.
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Cities are losing trees -- fast. But it's not too late to change that.
Aired on NPR, 26 November 2022
In late November 2022, Scott Simon, host of National Public Radio's Weekend Addition Saturday, interviewed David Nowak, emeritus research forester at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Nowak summarized:
- how many states across the nation lost tree cover -- and why -- during his 5-year study between 2009 and 2014.
- why urban trees matter to humans.
- how communities should manage future urban tree growth in light of a warming climate.
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