City Trees is a premier publication focused on urban + community forestry. In each issue, you’ll learn how to best manage the trees in your community and more!
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/417159
ÜÜÜ°ÕÀL>vÀiÃÌÀÞ°V 4 HE WEATHER IN /HIO IS HIGHLY VARIABLE AND ) CANT CLAIM TO SEE ANY PREDICTABLE TRENDS DEVELOPING (OWEVER THE NUMBERS PROVE THAT OUR OVERALL CLIMATE IS CHANGING AND WARMING AND PHENO LOGICAL INDICATORS IN OUR REGION TELL US THAT OUR GROWING SEASONS ARE LENGTHENING *UST HOW OUR CHANGING CLIMATE AFFECTS LOCAL WEATHER REMAINS TO BE SEEN AND THATS THE TRICK FOR URBAN FORESTERS FARM ERS AND OTHERS WHO DEAL WITH PLANT CULTIVATION 7ILL WE EXPERIENCE A GRADUAL GENERAL WARMING (OW WILL THIS CHANGE PRECIPITATION PATTERNS 7ILL CHANGES BE CONSISTENT OVER LARGE AREAS OR WILL DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES OR NEIGHBORHOODS HAVE DIFFERING EXPERIENCES DUE TO THE COMPLEX FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE LOCAL WEATHER /R WILL GLOBAL ATMOSPHERIC CHANGES INSTEAD LEAD TO MORE WEATHER EXTREMES 7E ALL KNOW EXTREME WEATHER WIND RAIN SNOW ICE HEAT OR COLD IS BAD NEWS FOR CITY FORESTERS )T HAS BEEN DECADES SINCE )VE BEEN ABLE TO ENJOY A GOOD STORM 7E WERE HIT HARD BY (URRICANE )KE IN YES A HURRICANE IN /HIO AND )D NEVER HEARD OF A DERECHO UNTIL WE WERE CLOBBERED DURING THE SUMMER OF 6IOLENT WEATHER IS INEVITABLE BUT IS IT INCREASING IN FRE QUENCY OR INTENSITY )N A SENSE MANY FARMERS HAVE A BIG ADVANTAGE OVER URBAN FOREST ERS 4HEY PLANT CROPS OF ANNUAL CORN BEANS OR WHEAT AND ARE THUS ABLE TO SELECT DIFFERENT CROPS AND CULTIVARS BASED ON RECENT EXPERIENCE #ITY FORESTERS ON THE OTHER HAND PLANT A CROP WITH A ROTATION OF TO YEARS ) HAVE NOT HEARD ANYONE OF SOUND MIND PREDICTING WHAT GROWING CONDITIONS WE WILL BE LIVING WITH IN THE YEAR )N 5PPER !RLINGTON /HIO WE HAVE HAD SERIOUS DROUGHTS ON OCCASION AND YEARS OF ABUNDANT RAINFALL INCLUDING 4HE THERMOMETER ROUTINELY HITS THE UPPER S & # IN SUMMER AND WINTER TEMPERATURES CAN DIP TO & # -OST RECENTLY ITS THE COLD THAT HAS CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD ! FEW NIGHTS OF WERE NOT UNHEARD OF YEARS AGO BUT ) WAS ON THE CUSP OF BELIEVING THAT WE HAD MOVED FROM 53$! :ONE TO :ONE IN THE LAST YEARS 4HE WINTER OF ALLEVIATED ME OF THAT NOTION WHEN A POLAR VORTEX HAMMERED THE CENTRAL 53 FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD 3PECIES THAT WE PLANTED TO THRIVE IN A GRADUALLY WARMING :ONE DID NOT FARE WELL 0ARTICULARLY HARD HIT FOR US WERE -AGNOLIA GRANDIFLORA !CER PLATANOIDES !LBIZIA JULIBRISSIN ,AGERSTROEMIA INDICA 1UERCUS PHELLOS AND 0RUNUS !MAZINGLY LOCAL GARDEN CENTERS WERE AGAIN SELLING THESE SPECIES TO HOPELESS OPTIMISTS OR THE UNINFORMED JUST MONTHS AFTER THEY WERE WIPED OUT BY THE DEEP FREEZE 4HE POLAR BLAST WAS ALSO A GREAT REMINDER OF THE IMPORTANCE OF PROVENANCE 7ITHIN SOME SPECIES THE COLD DAMAGE TO INDIVIDUAL TREES RANGED FROM ZERO TO COMPLETE DEATH OF TISSUES ABOVE THE SNOW LINE 4HIS WAS PARTICULARLY NOTICEABLE IN OUR +OELREUTERIA PANICULATA AND ,IQUIDAMBAR STYRACIFLUA 5LTIMATELY ) THINK THE BEST STRATEGY IS BIODIVERSITY 7E PREACH DIVERSIFICATION IN OUR COMMUNITY FORESTS FOR MANY REASONS AND IT IS WISE TO INCLUDE SPECIES GENOTYPES OR CULTIVARS THAT MAY BE ON THE EDGE OF THEIR RANGE FOR COLD HEAT OR WATER NEEDS AS A HEDGE AGAINST FUTURE CLIMATE CHANGE (OWEVER THESE EXPERIMENTS SHOULD BE LIMITED IN SCOPE UNTIL LONG TERM TRENDS ARE MORE APPARENT AND SPECIES WITH A BROAD SET OF ENVIRONMENTAL TOLERANCES MAY BE PREF ERABLE TO THOSE WITH NARROW TOLERANCES &INALLY BEWARE THOSE WHO CLAIM TO KNOW WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS ) WONT BE AROUND IN YEARS TO PROVE THEM WRONG BUT ) EXPECT THAT MANY OF THE TREES ) PLANT WILL BE HERE AND GOING STRONG —Steve Cothrel, Superintendent of Parks and Forestry, Upper Arlington, Ohio 4HIS TREND IS PARTICULARLY EVIDENT FOR AND YEAROLD TREES 3URREY WATERED YEAROLD TREES NEARLY WEEKS LONGER ON AVER AGE FOR THE PERIOD OF TO COMPARED TO THE PERIOD TO 3URREY WATERED YEAROLD TREES NEARLY WEEKS LONGER ON AVERAGE FOR THE PERIOD OF TO COMPARED TO THE PERIOD TO 3URREY WATERED YEAROLD TREES NEARLY WEEKS LONGER ON AVERAGE FOR THE PERIOD OF TO COMPARED TO THE PERIOD TO )T IS NO SECRET THAT THE #ITY OF 3URREY RECEIVES PLENTY OF RAIN THROUGH TWOTHIRDS OF THE YEAR !ND ANECDOTAL INFORMATION AND THE GUTFEEL OF URBAN FORESTRY PROFESSIONALS TELL US THAT SUMMERS SEEM TO BE GETTING HOTTER AND DRIER 4HE DATA IN THE h9EAR -OVING !VERAGEv CHART PROVIDES SOME QUANTITATIVE ILLUSTRATION THAT CORROBORATES THE SUBJECTIVE SENSE OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE REGION TOWARDS LONGER AND MORE INTENSE DROUGHT !S 3URREY CONTINUES ITS ROBUST PLANTING PROGRAM INTO THE FUTURE ITS URBAN FORESTERS WILL NEED TO REGULARLY EVALUATE EXISTING SPECIES AND ALSO TAKE A CLOSE LOOK AT SPECIES THAT THRIVE JUST A LITTLE FURTHER SOUTH OR A LITTLE FURTHER INLAND IN ORDER TO DEVELOP AN URBAN FOREST THAT IS CAPABLE OF THRIVING IN A CHANGING CLIMATE *UST LIKE THE TREES THAT THRIVE IN THE #ITY IF YOU CAN HANDLE THE MOISTURE FOR EIGHT MONTHS AND YOU ENJOY A DRY SPELL EVERY SUMMER 3URREY MIGHT BE THE PLACE FOR YOU —Neal Aven, Urban Forestry & Environmental Programs Manager, City of Surrey, Parks Division /iÊ ÌÞÊvÊ-ÕÀÀiÞ]Ê ÀÌÃÊ ÕL>ÊÃÊiÝ«iÀiV}Ê}iÀ]ÊÀiÊ ÌiÃiÊ`ÀÕ}ÌÃÊ>`ÊÃÊiÃÌ}ÊÜ>ÌiÀ}Êi«ÊvÀÊVÌâiðÊ*ÌÊ ÕÀÌiÃÞÊ ÌÞÊvÊ-ÕÀÀiÞ]Ê1ÀL>ÊÀiÃÌÀÞÊ>`ÊÛÀiÌ>Ê*À}À>Ã