Adaptive Management Adaptive management promotes flexible decision making that can be adjusted in the face of uncertainties, as outcomes from management actions and other events become better understood. It’s a systematic process for continually improving management policies and practices by learning from the outcomes of programs. Some of the characteristics of adaptive management include: monitoring, analysis of the treatment outcomes in consideration of the original objectives, incorporation of the results into revised treatment decisions.
Arborist A tree care professional in the practice of arboriculture: the cultivation, management, and study of individual trees, shrubs, and vines, other perennial woody plants. The International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) certifies those who have at least three years of experience and have passed an exam. Certified Arborists have continuing education requirements.
B
Benefits of Trees in the Urban Forest Trees help maintain air quality; reduce energy use and cool the urban environment; moderate climate extremes; help reduce storm water runoff and sediment; help control erosion; capture and store carbon; support pollination and beneficial insects; provide for a higher quality of life; provide for faster healing and better learning environments; increase property values; improve wildlife habitat; and more.
Biological Control A method of managing plant pests or weeds using natural predators, parasites or pathogens.
C
Canopy Collective branches and foliage of a tree or an aggregate of tree crowns.
Climate Action Plans Climate Action Plans or “CAPs” are the guiding plans for public and private entities to identify and prioritize strategies, programs, and policies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as well as adapt to a warmer climate and prepare residents, businesses, natural resources, wildlife, and infrastructure for the impacts of a changing climate.
Climate Action Plans aim to address the biggest causes of climate change emissions: transportation, energy, and waste in most areas. CAPs often promote strategies that fall into four main categories: Clean and Efficient Energy and Water; Transit, Walking, and Biking; Zero Waste, and Trees and Climate Resilience. Climate Action Plans can achieve multiple community goals such as improving air quality, lowering energy costs, supporting jobs and local economic development, providing more convenient and safe alternative transportation, and improving public health, quality of life, and the reliability and security of their energy system. From the website: www.climateactioncampaign.org/
Coordinator Small-scale plan: The land or facilities manager often coordinates the development of the plan for a single campus, park or business.
Large-scale plan: If the plan includes a large area and/or includes public lands, an urban forester or arborist usually coordinates the development of the plan. However, that role is often designated by upper management.
Who will coordinate the development of your plan?
D
Deciduous An adjective that describes the condition of a plant that drops its leaves, either in winter or during drought conditions; not evergreen.
Decline Gradually diminishing health or condition of a tree.
Defensible Space Arranging trees, shrubs, and other fuels sources in a way that makes it difficult for fire to transfer from one fuel source to another, usually to “defend” buildings.
E
Ecosystem services When ecosystems function, they provide “services”: they clean water and air; decompose waste and cycle nutrients; generate soils and renew their fertility; regulate disease carrying organisms; moderate weather extremes, and contribute to climate stability and biological diversity.
Ecosystems Ecosystems are ecological systems: communities of plants and animals, including people, that interact with one another and with their abiotic environment (soil, water, air, minerals) of a region. Ecosystems occur in different land uses, such as wildlands (natural ecosystems), agriculture (agro-ecosystems), and urban/suburban areas (urban ecosystems).
Evergreen leaves or scales are retained on the plant year round
G
Girdling Restriction of a plant part that inhibits the flow of water and photosynthates.
Green Infrastructure Just as communities have a built “gray” infrastructure of roads, sewers, and utilities, they also have a green infrastructure of green spaces including parks, gardens, trees, waterways, and other open spaces. Green infrastructure helps preserve essential ecological functions and can be used as a tool for flood control, storm water management, carbon sequestration, climate adaptation, maintaining biodiversity, food production, improving air quality, cleaning water and conserving healthy soils. Green infrastructure also provides anthropocentric functions such as improved quality of life, recreational opportunities, scenic values, shade for cooling, and better health in and around towns and cities. Green infrastructure practices incorporate both the natural environment and engineered systems to provide clean water, conserve ecosystem functions, and provide a wide array of benefits to people and wildlife. Green infrastructure may include a network of decentralized storm water management practices, such as green roofs, trees, rain gardens, and permeable pavement, that can capture and in infiltrate rain where it falls, thus reducing storm water runoff and improving the health of surrounding waterways.
H
Heritage Trees Trees that are awarded special status due to their age, size, rarity or other factors.
I
Invasive Species Non-native organisms that spread beyond their natural range.
IPM Integrated Pest Management is a method of managing pests that combines control tactics (cultural, biological, chemical) into a management strategy.
iTreeTools.org i-Tree is a state-of-the-art, peer reviewed software suite from the USDA Forest Service that provides urban forestry analysis and benefits assessment tools. The i-Tree Tools help communities of all sizes to strengthen their urban forest management and advocacy efforts by quantifying the structure of community trees and the environmental services that trees provide. The i-Tree Landscape module is a Web-based application. i-Tree Landscape is preloaded with land cover data and U.S. Census demographics.
iTreeTools.org
L
Large Area UFMP If the plan includes a large urban area and public lands, it’s important to gain agency cooperation, so all departments and agencies will be operating with common goals. Gain input from managers and staff of public works, planning, parks departments, school districts, public utilities, and managers of green infrastructure such as flood control districts, land conservancies and resource conservation districts. Stakeholders may include concerned citizens, large private landholders, and green industry professionals, such as arborists, commercial growers, landscape contractors, and engineering professionals.
LIDAR Stands for: Light Detection and Ranging. It’s a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variable distances) to the Earth. These light pulses—combined with other data recorded by the airborne system— generate precise, three-dimensional information about the shape of the Earth and its surface characteristics. LIDAR is used to generate geospatial products, such as canopy models, digital elevation models, building models, and contours. NOAA 2016.
M
Mature Tree A tree that has grown to its approximate full height and crown size, as determined by species and site factors
N
Native Species Plants or animals indigenous to a region; naturally occurring and not introduced.
S
Scope You will need to determine the specific mapped area that the plan will cover, such as within city boundaries or a specific campus. However, within that area, you may only be addressing certain trees, such as street trees. The scope of the plan includes the kinds or area of trees that will be planned for.
Small-Area (Site-Level) UFMP For a small landscape, such as a golf course or college campus, invite the involvement of owners, administrators, users, and neighbors.Large scale plan: If the plan includes a large urban area and public lands, it’s important to gain agency cooperation, so all departments and agencies will be operating with common goals. Gain input from managers and staff of public works, planning, parks departments, school districts, public utilities, and managers of green infrastructure such as flood control districts, land conservancies and resource conservation districts.
SMART The acronym SMART has several slightly different variations, which can be used to help direct and review goal setting. Here is a simple guide to review when you write each goal:
S - Specific
M - Measurable
A - Attainable and Agreed upon
R - Results-oriented and Realistic
T - Time-based
Species Diversity A measure of the number and variety of different species found in a given area.
Stakeholder Analysis The process of identifying those affected by a project or event. It is frequently used during the preparation phase of a project to assess the attitudes of the stakeholders regarding the potential changes. Stakeholder analysis helps with the identification of the following: Stakeholders' interests; Mechanisms to influence other stakeholders; Potential risks; Key people to be informed about the project during the execution phase; Negative stakeholders as well as their adverse effects on the project.
Stakeholders Since each management plan is unique to the location for which it’s developed, the people who review and contribute to the plan come along with the territory.
It’s not always easy to identify the stakeholders of a project, especially those impacted indirectly. In this case, stakeholders could be anyone impacted by trees in an urban area: residents concerned about quality of life, elected officials, city staff, private and business landowners. Seek input from a variety of stakeholders to develop a common vision and to review progressive versions of the plan.
Stakeholders may include concerned citizens, large private landholders, and green industry professionals, such as arborists, commercial growers, landscape contractors, and engineering professionals.Regional groups may be important stakeholders for linking the efforts of neighboring communities for action on larger geographic and ecological issues.
Regional groups may be important stakeholders for linking the efforts of neighboring communities for action on larger geographic and ecological issues.
Answer the following questions on the downloadable form:
Who are the key people and groups that are impacted and/or that can help?
Are these people aware of urban forestry, community concerns, and the specific needs of the area to be planned?
Sustainability Sustainability is the ability to preserve the integrity of natural resources and systems, so they are neither depleted nor damaged, ensuring future generations a healthy and clean environment.
U
Urban Forest The sum of all woody and associated vegetation in and around dense human settlements, ranging from small communities in rural settings to metropolitan regions. (from Urban Forestry, Planning and Managing Urban Greenspaces by Robert W. Miller: 1988. New Jersey: Prentice Hall)
Urban Forest Management Plan An UFMP creates a shared vision for the future of a tree canopy. It’s a tailored plan that guides tree care professionals to manage green infrastructure and provide for maximum, long-term benefits to the community. The plan provides recommendations based on the analysis of detailed inventories and includes a strategic plan with goals, objectives and actions; an implementation plan; a monitoring plan; and may include additional components, such as budgets, schedules, policy and procedure manuals, standards and specifications, existing ordinances, and public education plans.
Urban Forestry A planned approach for the development and maintenance of the urban forest, including all elements of green infrastructure within a community, in an effort to optimize the resulting benefits in social, environmental, public health, economic, and aesthetic terms, especially when resulting from a community visioning and goal-setting process.
