Trees and People- A Two Way Street (12-DG-11132544-386)

We seek funds for an interdisciplinary, collaborative, multi-city research program to evaluate urban tree- planting programs’ direct effects – survival/growth of urban trees – and indirect effects – engaging neighborhoods/individuals in tree-planting programs and other community projects aimed at adapting to climate change.  We have partnered with Alliance for Community Trees and six tree-planting nonprofit organizations across the eastern United States to expand the research we are conducting with Keep Indianapolis Beautiful.  We seek to collect data via two protocols: re-inventories of planted trees for data on tree-specific and local environmental variables, and survey and interviews of about social, indirect effects for data on individual/community characteristics and management practices.  We will conduct these protocols in each organization’s city to assess the outcomes of their programs.

Results of this research will (1) help close the gap between the organizations’ desired knowledge and existing practices; (2) generate data for national-scale assessment of community tree-planting programs in the face of climate change; and (3) inform best practices for volunteer planting programs and environmental stewardship, particularly for climate change.  We are requesting $173,206 and will have $188,365 matching funds, mostly in-kind, from participating groups to perform this large-scale, holistic assessment of urban tree-planting programs.

Final Report Download

Project Narrative

Additional File Downloads

Article-Affects of Tree Mortality on Tree-Planting Programs

Article-Spatial Distribution of Tree-Planting Programs

Article-Standardizing At-planting Data

Final Report

Final Report Addendum