Urban Forestry

The urban forest is diverse, consisting of the treed areas in and around our cities, towns and villages; including street and yard trees as well as trees in parks and natural areas such as woodlots, ravines and larger forests. Despite their diversity, urban forests share a unique feature: The predominance of human activity. It is this strong human influence which helps to define and provide the many unique challenges in the management of these forests.

Urban forests play an important role in the urban landscape, contributing to the well-being of our communities environmentally, socially and economically. For example, urban forests can influence microclimates, trap atmospheric pollutants, attenuate stormwater, increase biodiversity, provide habitat for flora and fauna, increase real estate values and improve the psychological and physical well-being of people. The urban forest consists of all the treed areas in and around our cities including street and yard trees, woodlots, ravines and forests

The following pages will help you to familiarize yourself with common problems of the trees in our urban forests.

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Basal Trunk Scars Conflict Categories Conks Cracks Crown Defoliation Dead and Broken Branches GLOSSARY Lean

Poor Branch Attachment Pruning Scar Reduced Height Root Trenching Roots

Rot& Cavity Unbalanced Crown Weak and Yellowing Foliage

A Few of Our Favorite Trees

This work is excerpted from Neighbourwoods program of the Urban Forests Centre. We would like to thank W.A. Kenney , Helena Rusak and Danijela Puric-Mladenovic for permission to use this work.

If you would like to learn more about Urban Forestry contact the Urban Forest Research Group at the Urban Forests Centre Faculty of Forestry University of Toronto.

Special Thanks to W.A. Kenney for his help in scanning photos and to Helena Rusak for sharing her fabulous web design project.