In NYC, a Tree Census Takes Root
Once a decade, the Parks Department logs every tree in the city — and they’re mustering volunteers to do it again.
Though a volunteer-powered tree survey may sound like the premise of a children’s book or a Roz Chast cartoon, that’s what’s actually happening right now in parks all over New York City. NYC Parks is in the midst of its fourth Trees Count campaign, a citywide census undertaken every 10 years since 1995 to learn — and spread awareness — about what’s planted across the parks and streets of Gotham.
There’s something quaint about enlisting everyday people to count every tree in the five boroughs, ensuring no London plane tree, Norway maple, or their less well-traveled species brethren is left uncounted.
Volunteers, no experience necessary, are invited to register for one of several two-hour training sessions held weekly in large parks around the boroughs. (Street trees are automatically surveyed by sophisticated mapping devices mounted on roving Parks Department cars, so the parks are the focus for volunteers.) On the appointed day, they download a free FIELD MAPS app and arrive at the park, to be issued a city tote bag holding a tape measure and a tree guide. With the group assembled, instructors go over how to use GPS to find each participant’s assigned patch of park.
When a volunteer reaches their assigned zone (which will show up as a colored overlay on the digital map), they orient themselves in front of their first tree (not-yet-counted trees show up as yellow dots). The tree ID guide leads them through simple, illustrated questions to narrow down the exact species. (What is the leaf shape? What’s the edge of the leaf like? How do the leaves grow in relation to one another?) Photos of trees common to NYC parks help confirm the selection, as does additional information about bark, flowers, and other clues.
With the species identified, the tree hugging begins. The volunteer measures four-and-a-half feet up the trunk from the base of the tree then wraps the tape measure around at that height, and notes the trunk’s circumference in the app. (The foolproof process offers additional instructions for what to do if a slippery hill, clump of poison ivy, or fence keep you from being able to wrap your arms around the tree.) The volunteer is prompted to answer questions about the general health and state of the tree. An open text box allows input of comments that weren’t covered by the questions. When the individual tree has been fully assessed and a click of the SUBMIT button sends the data, the yellow dot that identifies the tree on the survey zone turns to green. It’s been successfully counted!
The initial training continues for two hours, so that participants have enough time to ask the Trees Count staff questions and, hopefully, to finish surveying their assigned zone in the park. (It’s okay if the zone is left unfinished, as long as it’s noted in the app.) At the end of the successful orientation session, the arboreal-mad volunteers are set loose in the city parks to tally trees at will, claiming their own zones full of yellow dots to be identified, sized up, counted, and turned green.
Worried that important science is being left to your neighbors who can’t figure out how to use the new trash (or compost) bins? Rest assured that the data gathered by amateurs truly helps professional scientists track the changes and trends in the health of the urban forest, which in turn, reflects on the health and wellbeing of those of us living here.
Some facts uncovered by previous NYC tree surveys:
- Only 19% of NYC’s individually tended trees (as opposed to those growing in forest settings) are on landscaped parkland; the rest are street trees
- More than a third of all trees in NYC are growing in Queens
- The city’s street trees sequester 57,000 tons of CO2 each year — that’s the equivalent of removing 11,700 cars from the city’s roadways
- In spite of those dire warnings handwritten and posted in tree wells near your building, at last count, 79.4% of our city trees were judged to be in good condition
