From the USDA Forest Service and partners
Forest Management in Cities:
Creating Climate-Resilient Oak Forests
By Richard Hallett, USFS Research Ecologist; Max R.
Piana, USFS Research Ecologist; and Phil Rodbell, USFS
National Program Leader for Urban Forestry Research
Photos by Richard Hallett
Oaks (Quercus spp.) are one of the most important trees in the
eastern United States—for the ecosystem, for the economy,
and for beauty and pure enjoyment. Though they are sturdy,
their future needs our care, and we can start in cities.
Oak forests comprise over half of all forest land in the
eastern U.S. (Smith
et al. 2009, Oswalt et al. 2014). Oaks
are keystone species that support biodiversity by pro-
viding food for many insects, birds, and mammals (Tallamy
& Shropshire 2009). White oak (Quercus alba) wood is
used in furniture, cabinetry, flooring, and barrel making.
In Kentucky, for instance, white oak is an $8 billion
industry, mostly generated by the distilling industry.
The challenge for oak species throughout the entire eastern
U.S. is that they are not regenerating (Dey
2014). This is hap-
pening in cities, too, where barriers to oak regeneration are
exacerbated by greater abundance of invasive plants, increased
herbivory, and acorn predation (Piana et al. 2019; 2021).
Within many cities, forests—distinct from street trees or yard
trees—are common, abundant, and vital ecosystems pro-
viding important refuge and habitat to diverse biota (Figure 1)
(Trammell
et al. 2020, Spotswood et al. 2021). While oaks are
prevalent in many forested urban natural areas, they are mostly
mature. There are no oak seedlings ready to replace them as
they die off due to insect and disease pressure, windstorms,
Urban woodlands, forest patches, remnant
forest, forested natural areas: these terms
all describe what can be simply defined
as forests in cities. These forests, unlike
street trees and residential yard trees,
are biophysically akin to forests in rural
areas, characterized by continuous tree
canopy, multi-strata vegetation, and nat-
urally regenerating tree populations.
Figure 1. Inwood Hill Park, at the northern
tip of Manhattan, New York City.
28 CityTREES
