Urban Tree Mapping in Pope Park Bio-Science and Environmental Technology Class of 2019 A. I. Prince Technical High School

Introduction Class of 2019: Jessica Marie Rosario Kendra Rodriguez Lixsweth Garcia Danasia Smith Ashleigh Singh Instructors: Sarah Wilby and Ted Hinman

About Our Program Bio-Science and Environmental Technology is a career technology that focuses on preparing students for careers or higher education in environmental fields such as forestry, landscape design, water treatment, or animal science.

Purpose of our Project In our junior year, we study invasive species, forestry, data analysis and GIS mapping, so mapping the trees in Pope Park was a good project to incorporate all of these topics. We were specifically looking for trees that have been damaged by the Emerald Ash Borer. We wanted to find and map those trees so that the city of Hartford could find them more easily and remove them.

Data Collection The Bioscience classes (Class of 2018, 2019, and 2020) collected the data during our junior year. We used the Collector App on our phones to input: Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) Species Condition of the crown, roots and trunk Overall health Location to put into the ArcGIS system.

Results

There were 17 Ash Trees in Pope Park but only 5 were in poor health There were 17 Ash Trees in Pope Park but only 5 were in poor health. Those trees were later removed. There were 10 Sugar Maples that were in poor health. That accounts for 25% of all the Sugar Maples in the park.

Tree Location We tried to figure out if tree health was related to the tree’s location in the park. We thought that there might be road salt or other pollutants coming from the surrounding streets or from the highway. Healthy trees (coral and purple colored) and unhealthy (green) trees were both located near the road so we do not think there is any correlation.

Tree Size Trees are generally considered mature when their diameter is 24 inches or more. We found that 60% of the unhealthy trees were at least 24 inches. The reason that they are in poor health may just be old age. It is possible that some of them were original to the park.

Conclusion Accuracy The data we had was not as accurate as it could be because we are students and still practicing the skill. Also, there was a mix of three different grades collecting the data therefore what one class thought was poor health might be interpreted differently by another class. A good way to address that is to make a rubric so all classes would have an idea of what they need to look for.

Conclusion - What needs to be done to improve tree health in Pope Park? Remove all Ash trees that have Emerald Ash Borer Remove some of the old Sugar Maples because they have dead roots or their trunk is damaged with a lot of visible decay. Plant a variety of tree species so that if there is another invasive pest, it may only affect some of the trees

Future Projects Some other GIS projects that our school could do are: Mapping trees in other local parks Mapping stream water quality data that we collect Mapping locations where we have observed birds and other wildlife

Thank you for having us!