Tree IDentification and inventories

OvERVIEW

Tree inventories are a beneficial and often necessary step in greening schoolyards. By taking an inventory of the trees on your school grounds, you and your students can assess the current condition of the site and then work to improve the site’s health. Students will learn how to identify, measure, and assess their schoolyard trees and conduct a site analysis using maps or mapping software. Tree inventory data can be used to model the effects of tree removals and tree plantings to determine how to best improve your schoolyard.

Time

Time will vary depending on the level of detail of your inventory. The size of your schoolyard and how much of the site is forested will also impact how long it will take to inventory your school grounds. American Forests has found that a team of two can usually inventory a six-acre site in approximately eight hours.

The timeline of Casey Trees Endowment Fund’s GreenTech Program is one school year: in the spring teachers are recruited and trained, in the fall classes conduct tree inventories, in the winter students conduct inventory analyses and develop a planting plan, and finally, in the spring, students plant trees in their schoolyard using the plans they have developed.

land use

In conducting a tree inventory students will explore their entire schoolyard site, observing and recording data for each tree on their school grounds. If your schoolyard is heavily forested, you can break the class into inventory teams having each team be responsible for a particular area or quadrant.

Materials

To conduct a basic inventory, you will need measuring tapes, tree identification guides, and maps of your schoolyard. For a more sophisticated study, you can use Geographic Information System (GIS) software to inventory and store tree data. GIS software, including ArcView and CITYgreen, can be obtained through participation in Casey Trees Endowment Fund’s GreenTech Program.

EDUCATIONAL THEMES

Math, science, and geography, computer technology and urban ecology studies

Additional resources

The National Arbor Day Foundation: Eastern and Central Tree Identification
This site provides an excellent online tree ID guide. It is in the format of a dichotomous key, which is a method for IDing tree species based on a series of decisions, each involving a choice between two alternate identification characteristics.

Casey Trees Endowment Fund’s GreenTech Program
In partnership with American Forests, Casey Trees Endowment Fund has developed a program to engage DC teachers and students in conducing tree inventories using ArcView GIS and CITYgreen software to analyze the economic and ecological benefits of trees as they affect stormwater runoff and air pollution reduction and apply their findings to develop and implement a planting plan for their schoolyard.

American Forests: CITYgreen Software
CITYgreen is a powerful GIS application for land-use planning and policy-making. The software conducts complex statistical analyses of ecosystem services and creates easy-to-understand maps and reports. CITYgreen calculates dollar benefits based on your specific site conditions.