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The Urban Forest of New York City

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The Urban Forest of New York City United States Department of Agriculture The Urban Forest of New York City Northern Resource Bulletin Forest Service Research Station NRS-117 September 2018 Abstract An analysis of the urban forest in New York, New York, reveals that this city has an estimated 7.0 million trees (encompassing all woody plants greater than one-inch diameter at breast height [d.b.h.]) with tree canopy that covers 21 percent of the city. The most common tree species across public and private land are Norway maple, northern white-cedar, tree-of-heaven, sassafras, and white oak, but the most dominant species in terms of leaf area are Norway maple, London planetree, black locust, pin oak, and red maple. Trees in New York City currently store about 1.2 million tons of carbon (4.2 million tons carbon dioxide [CO2]) valued at $153 million. In addition, these trees remove about 51,000 tons of carbon per year (186,000 tons CO2/year) ($6.8 million per year) and about 1,100 tons of air pollution per year ($78 million per year). New York City’s urban forest is estimated to reduce annual residential energy costs by $17.1 million per year and reduce runoff by 69 million cubic feet/year ($4.6 million/year). The compensatory value of the trees is estimated at $5.7 billion. The information presented in this report can be used by local organizations to advance urban forest policies, planning, and management to improve environmental quality and human health in New York City. The analyses also provide a basis for monitoring changes in the urban forest over time. Cover Photos Front, View from Freshkills Park. Photo by Richard Hallett, USDA Forest Service. Back, cherry tree on the High Line in Manhattan. Photo by D.S. Novem Auyeung, used wtih permission. Manuscript received for publication 9 March 2018 Published by For additional copies: U.S. FOREST SERVICE U.S. Forest Service 11 CAMPUS BLVD SUITE 200 Publications Distribution NEWTOWN SQUARE PA 19073 359 Main Road September 2018 Delaware, OH 43015-8640 Email: [email protected] The Urban Forest of New York City The Authors DAVID J. NOWAK is a senior scientist and i-Tree team leader with the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station at Syracuse, New York. ALLISON R. BODINE is a former research forester with Davey Tree’s Davey Institute at Syracuse, New York. ROBERT E. HOEHN III is a forester with the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station at Syracuse, New York. ALEXIS ELLIS is a research urban forester with Davey Tree’s Davey Institute at Syracuse, New York. SATOSHI HIRABAYASHI is an environmental modeler with Davey Tree’s Davey Institute at Syracuse, New York. ROBERT COVILLE is an urban forest hydrology specialist with Davey Tree’s Davey Institute at Syracuse, New York. D.S. NOVEM AUYEUNG is a senior scientist with the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation at New York, New York. NANCY FALXA SONTI is an ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station at Baltimore, Maryland. RICHARD A. HALLETT is a research ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station at New York, New York. MICHELLE L. JOHNSON is an interdisciplinary research scientist with the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station at New York, New York. EMILY STEPHAN is a former research assistant with the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse, New York. TOM TAGGART is a former research assistant with the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse, New York. TED ENDRENY is a professor with the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse, New York. Resource Bulletin NRS-117 Street trees in Staten Island near a residential area. Photo by D.S. Novem Auyeung, used with permission. CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................. 1 BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................ 3 METHODS ......................................................................................................................................... 5 Tree Cover Assessment ........................................................................................................... 5 Urban Forest Composition, Structure, and Values ........................................................ 5 RESULTS ...........................................................................................................................................13 Tree Cover Assessment .........................................................................................................13 Urban Forest Structure, Composition, and Values ......................................................14 MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS ..............................................................................................38 Current Tree Size Distribution and Potential Species Changes ..............................38 Insect and Disease Impacts.................................................................................................39 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................41 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................41 APPENDIX 1: Bronx River Watershed Analysis ...................................................................42 APPENDIX 2: Ecosystem Services by Community District ............................................51 APPENDIX 3: Woody Trees and Shrubs Sampled in the New York City Urban Forest .............................................................................................................................54 APPENDIX 4: Tree Species Distribution ................................................................................60 APPENDIX 5: Relative Tree Effects ..........................................................................................65 APPENDIX 6: Temperature Index Map ..................................................................................67 APPENDIX 7: General Recommendations for Air Quality Improvement .................69 APPENDIX 8: Potential Insect and Disease Impacts ........................................................70 LITERATURE CITED ......................................................................................................................74 Trees in Forest Park, Queens. Photo by Alaine Ball, USDA Forest Service. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The urban forest in New York City contributes to local environmental quality and human health. The urban forest resource, as defined in this report, is made up of all the trees within the city limits. Urban greening programs that are sponsored locally, such as MillionTreesNYC and Cool Neighborhoods NYC, are investing in tree planting campaigns in an effort to improve the city’s environment and provide equal access to green space for all people in the city. However, there are mounting threats from insects, diseases, invasive plant species, climate change, development, and changing infrastructure that are negatively affecting urban forest resources. Addressing the challenge of developing a sustainable and healthy urban forest is complicated by a diversity of tree species, their dynamic characteristics, a fragmented ownership pattern, and a lack of comprehensive information about the urban forest resource. To address these critical information needs, the USDA Forest Service assessed New York City’s trees to quantify its urban forest structure, and the associated services and values provided to society. This assessment consisted of field data collection and model analyses to inform and improve urban forest management. The methods and tools used for this assessment have also been used to assess the urban forest in Baltimore, Phildelphia, and many other cities in the United States and abroad. Thus, this assessment is part of a larger set of urban forest assessments happening globally. The i-Tree Eco model (www.itreetools.org) was one of the tools used to advance the understanding of New York City’s urban forest. i-Tree Eco is a software application that uses data to quantify forest structure, environmental effects, and value to communities. This computer model quantifies forest structure and associated ecosystem services and monetary values based on local data. Structure is a measure of physical attributes of the forest (e.g., species composition, number of trees, tree health, leaf area, species diversity). Ecosystem services are determined by forest structure and include such attributes as air pollution removal and reductions in air temperatures. Monetary values then are estimated for various ecosystem services. To assess New York City’s urban forest and establish a baseline for future monitoring, field data were collected during the summer of 2013 and processed and analyzed using the i-Tree Eco model. A total of 296 one-tenth-acre field plots were sampled throughout the city. This report summarizes the results of this study (Table 1), including analysis of the field data, model outputs, and management implications for New York City. i-Tree Eco results are also compared with a previous urban forest assessment from 1996 (Nowak et al. 2007) and the results from the Natural Areas Conservancy’s Ecological Assessment of forested parkland (Forgione et al. 2016). 1 Table 1.—Summary of urban forest features, New York City, 2013 Feature Estimate Number
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