Street Tree Inventory Report Beaumont-Wilshire Neighborhood September 2016 Street Tree Inventory Report: Beaumont-Wilshire Neighborhood September 2016
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Street Tree Inventory Report Beaumont-Wilshire Neighborhood September 2016 Street Tree Inventory Report: Beaumont-Wilshire Neighborhood September 2016 Written by: Kat Davidson, Angie DiSalvo, Julie Fukuda, Jim Gersbach, Jeremy Grotbo, and Jeff Ramsey Portland Parks & Recreation Urban Forestry 503-823-4484 [email protected] http://portlandoregon.gov/parks/treeinventory Beaumont-Wilshire Tree Inventory Organizers: Mary Jaron Kelley, Jeff King Staff Neighborhood Coordinator: Jim Gersbach Data Collection Volunteers: Sibylle Baer, Jon Bailey, Ellis Beardsley, Yvonne Boisvert, Rick Burkhard, Dianna Choi, Perry Colclasure, Amanda Cross, Casey Cunningham, Marc Czornic, Greg DiCarlo, Joanne DiCarlo, Monte Edwards, Russell Eng, Jennifer Erickson, Steve Erickson, April Fong, Daniel Goulart, Liz Hay, Sue Hendrick, Starr Hogeboom, Lisa Horowitz, Ben Jones, David Judkins, Dolores Judkins, Mary Jaron Kelley, Jeff King, Ariel Lewin, Chris Lynch, Zosia Lynch, Linda Magnuson, Garth Massey, Sean McMillen, Louis Miles, Mark Miller, Melinda Moeur, Charles Moore, Francis Moore, Majida Nelson, Sheila Nyhus, Laura Paulini, Alexa Pengelly, Maureen Raad, Janine Ragucci, Bruce Richard, Nathan Riggsby, Karen Schaefer, Carl Schwab, Christine Semeniuk, Amy Simpson, Arielle Solomon, Eileen Stark, Jess Tyler, Stephen Upchurch, Matt Vellella, Richard Weber, Ann Wheeler, Paige Witte, Aaron Wolf, and Samantha Wolf Data Entry Volunteers: Rachael Aronson, Max Blasdel, Michael Brehm, Dylan Eglin, Kiel Jenkins, Bethany Lamb, Matthew Pryzborski, Nathan Riggsby, Kristin Sellers, Joshua Sindel, Takayuki Shigematsu, and Eric Watson Arborist-on-Call Volunteers: Ron Davies and Megan Van de Mark GIS Technical Support: Josh Darling, Portland Parks & Recreation Financial Support: Portland Parks & Recreation Cover Photos (from top left to bottom right): 1) Asymmetrical leaves on a hackberry (Celtis occidentalis). 2) The bright pink flowers of a hybrid crape myrtle Lagerstroemia( x indica.) 3) The attractive foliage of a rare Gold Rush dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides 'Ogon'). 4) A tiny flower crowns the foliage of a jujube Ziziphus( jujuba). 5) Tear the leaf of a hardy rubber tree (Eucommia ulmoides) and latex strands will be visible. 6) The tiny ringed acorns of an evergreen bambooleaf oak (Quercus myrsinifolia). 7) Large, showy flowers on a chitalpa (xChitalpa tashkentensis), which is an intergeneric hybrid. 8) Golden fall color on a Persian ironwood (Parrotia persica). ver. 10/13/2016 Portland Parks & Recreation 1120 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 1302 Portland, Oregon 97204 (503) 823-PLAY Commissioner Amanda Fritz www.PortlandParks.org Director Mike Abbaté Contents Key Findings .......................................... 1 About Portland’s Street Tree Inventory . 3 Beaumont-Wilshire Street Tree Inventory .................. 5 Neighborhood Characteristics ......................... 5 Urban Forest Composition............................ 6 Species diversity and tree type composition . 6 Functional tree type .............................. 8 Size class distribution ............................. 9 Mature tree form distribution ..................... 10 Importance value................................ 10 Tree Condition .................................... 11 Planting Site Composition and Stocking Level ........... 13 Planting sites................................... 13 Stocking level .................................. 14 Right tree in the right place ....................... 14 Replacement Value ................................. 15 Environmental and Aesthetic Benefits .................. 16 The Future Forest of Beaumont-Wilshire ............... 17 Recommendations ..................................... 21 Next Steps: Tree Plans and Tree Teams .................... 23 References ........................................... 25 Appendices........................................... 27 A: Methods ....................................... 27 B: Street trees of Beaumont-Wilshire by tree type ........ 29 C: Street trees of Beaumont-Wilshire by size (map) ....... 32 D: Vulnerability to key pests (map)..................... 33 E: Young street trees (trees ≤ 3” DBH) (map)............. 34 F: Large street trees (trees > 24” DBH) (map) ............ 35 G: Poor and dead street trees (map) .................... 36 H: Planting site types (map) .......................... 37 I: Planting site sizes (map)............................ 38 J: Available street tree planting sites (map) ............... 39 K: Priority street tree planting sites (map) ............... 40 Portland Parks & Recreation i Volunteers, guided by Portland Parks & Recreation Urban Forestry staff, collected data on all 3,744 street trees within Beaumont-Wilshire neighborhood to compile the neighborhood’s first complete street tree inventory. The data are being used to inform the creation of a Neighborhood Tree Plan to guide volunteers in caring for their community’s trees. ii Street Tree Inventory Report – Beaumont-Wilshire Neighborhood 2016 Key Findings This report provides the results of a street tree inventory conducted in the Beaumont-Wilshire neighborhood in 2016, along with Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) Urban Forestry staff recommendations for the Beaumont-Wilshire tree team. Over the course of four work days, 62 volunteers contributed more than 368 hours collecting data on each of the neighborhood’s 3,744 street trees. URBAN FOREST STRUCTURE • Beaumont-Wilshire’s street tree population is dominated by maple, cherry, plum, and dogwood and does not meet recommended species diversity guidelines. While 105 tree types were found in this inventory, only two families, Rosaceae and Sapindaceae, account for just over half (51%) of the street tree resource. Furthermore, both the Acer (maple) and Prunus (plum, cherry) genera are over represented, leaving Beaumont-Wilshire’s street tree population vulnerable to pests, pathogens, and effects of a changing climate. • The dominance of broadleaf deciduous trees (96%) in Beaumont-Wilshire points to a need to plant more evergreen trees for year-round benefits and to create a more resilient, sustainable urban forest. • There are many young trees in Beaumont-Wilshire. This is likely the result of successful tree planting efforts in recent years and provides an opportunity for inexpensive young tree maintenance activities that will reduce future costs and ensure the longevity of these trees. Continued planting of young, long-lived trees will help ensure a stable street tree population with a healthier age distribution in the future. • Only 15% of street trees are large form varieties. Large form trees are necessary to increase canopy cover and the subsequent benefits it provides for Beaumont-Wilshire’s residents. Planting the estimated 255 large available spaces identified in this inventory will maximize tree canopy in Beaumont-Wilshire's rights-of-way. TREE CONDITION • The majority of trees inventoried in Beaumont-Wilshire are in fair or good condition, however, about one tree in eight is in poor condition. Half of poor-rated trees are in the Rosaceae family. PLANTING SITES AND STOCKING LEVEL • Although 73% of street tree planting sites have trees in Beaumont-Wilshire, there are 1,080 that are empty and ready for planting. • Less than one-quarter of Beaumont-Wilshire’s large planting sites contain trees large enough for the site. Small form trees planted in large planting sites are a missed opportunity because larger trees contribute many times more benefits than do smaller ones. URBAN FOREST VALUE AND BENEFITS • Beaumont-Wilshire street trees produce an estimated $534,612 annually in environmental and aesthetic benefits. The replacement value of this resource is just under $10.2 million. Planting efforts focused on appropriately sized trees distributed across the neighborhood will ensure that future benefits are equitably distributed among all residents. Portland Parks & Recreation 1 Clockwise from top left: 1) Broadleaf evergreen trees like these drought-tolerant silverleaf oaks (Quercus hypoleucoides) from Mexico and the Southwestern USA are the least common type of tree in Beaumont-Wilshire. 2) Snowbells like these Styrax japonicus having become popular in recent years. While representing less than 2% of established street trees in Beaumont-Wilshire, they are trending up in new plantings and now represent 7% of all recently planted trees. 3) At 56.8” DBH, this silver maple (Acer saccharinum) is the largest diameter street tree in Beaumont-Wilshire. 4) With more than 100 tree types growing in Beaumont-Wilshire, it is a good place to see a wide range of tree species in Portland, including this Osage orange cultivar (Maclura pomifera ‘Whiteshield’). 2 Street Tree Inventory Report – Beaumont-Wilshire Neighborhood 2016 About Portland’s Street Tree Inventory THE IMPORTANCE OF STREET TREES Street trees are an important public asset in urban environments, serving as a buffer between our transportation corridors and our homes while enhancing the livability of our city. As integral components of a community’s green infrastructure, street trees provide multiple economic, environmental, and social benefits such as cleaner air and water, cooler summer temperatures, safer streets, and increased property values. Unlike traditional, “grey” infrastructure, which begins to deteriorate the moment it is installed, the benefits that street trees provide increase over the lifetime of the tree, making their planting and maintenance one of the best investments a city and its residents can make. While