Affiliation:
1. Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University
2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University
3. Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University
4. Department of Biology, Duke University
5. Harvard Forest, Harvard University
6. Independent Researcher
7. Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
8. The Biota of North America Program (BONAP)
Abstract
Sustainable cities depend on urban forests. City trees—pillars of urban forests—improve our health, clean the air, store CO2, and cool local temperatures. Comparatively less is known about city tree communities as ecosystems, particularly regarding spatial composition, species diversity, tree health, and the abundance of introduced species. Here, we assembled and standardized a new dataset of N = 5,660,237 trees from 63 of the largest US cities with detailed information on location, health, species, and whether a species is introduced or naturally occurring (i.e., “native”). We further designed new tools to analyze spatial clustering and the abundance of introduced species. We show that trees significantly cluster by species in 98% of cities, potentially increasing pest vulnerability (even in species-diverse cities). Further, introduced species significantly homogenize tree communities across cities, while naturally occurring trees (i.e., “native” trees) comprise 0.51–87.4% (median = 45.6%) of city tree populations. Introduced species are more common in drier cities, and climate also shapes tree species diversity across urban forests. Parks have greater tree species diversity than urban settings. Compared to past work which focused on canopy cover and species richness, we show the importance of analyzing spatial composition and introduced species in urban ecosystems (and we develop new tools and datasets to do so). Future work could analyze city trees alongside sociodemographic variables or bird, insect, and plant diversity (e.g., from citizen-science initiatives). With these tools, we may evaluate existing city trees in new, nuanced ways and design future plantings to maximize resistance to pests and climate change. We depend on city trees.
Funder
National Science Foundation
Stanford University
The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Foundation
Publisher
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Subject
General Immunology and Microbiology,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,General Medicine,General Neuroscience
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