City Trees

for the Puerto Rican people and their unbeliev- able resiliency. As for the trees, they seemed to be almost as resilient as their human neighbors. After being completely defoliated during the storm, most every tree had a relatively full canopy by the time we arrived, one month after the storm. Did you know all of the species going on, or did you have to learn them on the fly? JE and BC: Although we received little notice before deploying for the Island, we were able to acquire a few resources to help us identify and assess tropical trees. When we first arrived, we were paired with Benji, a local agronomist who worked at Parque Luis Muñoz Marín, to get us associated with the tree species in San Juan. We were familiar with a few, but none of the trees we encountered in Puerto Rico were species or even genera we work with in the temperate Northeast. However, towards the second half of our 15-day tour, we felt vastly more comfortable providing rec- ommendations for tree care in the San Juan parks. What were the patterns you observed in damage by species? JE and BC: There were a few species that seemed to sustain the most damage. Ficus benjamina tends to grow shallow roots and has a tremendous sail effect due to the large canopy and presence of aerial roots. Many were uprooted or mangled and required removal. The population of Ceiba trees were the slowest to regenerate foliage, but they seemed to have comparatively little structural damage. There were many Erythrina poeppigiana that seemed to be suffering before the hurricane hit and were mostly destroyed by the time we arrived to inspect them. We recommended that only one cluster of that species should remain, but on the condition that they were isolated with landscape fencing of some sort to eliminate any potential human targets. We observed that the genus Calophyllum had, amazingly, little to no damage and was one of the few tree species that held its foliage throughout the storm. What was a highlight, and what was a challenge? JE and BC: Again, we were astounded by the resiliency of both the people and the trees on the island of Puerto Rico. We found the emergency response experience to be rewarding, despite many hours of hard work. For both of us, the peo- ple we encountered were by far the highlight of our trip. Even despite some language barriers, we forged special relationships with the incredible local parks staff, many of whom had been work- ing without a day off since the hurricane hit. Our biggest challenges were due to the lack of available resources. Acquiring a bucket truck and chainsaws for our crews of climber/prun- ers was a struggle, so our crews improvised and made good use of their ropes and har- nesses and were able to boost production when NYC Parks shipped down several chainsaws. Have you been back? JE and BC: No, but we both would love to get back and visit the parks now that they have reopened to the public. Another large Ficus benjamina just beyond the walls of Old San Juan that was topped, righted, and cabled after the storm took it down. 30 CityTREES

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