Adapting Urban Forests: A Survey of Urban Forester Practices in the Face of a Changing Climate

Shifting climate patterns have the potential to create conditions that will stress urban forests reducing the benefits they provide for urban areas. Unlike naturally occurring ecosystems, urban forests do not self-sustain; tree regeneration, maintenance, and longevity are subject to management decisions made by municipalities and property owners. For urban forests to provide benefits for future urban inhabitants, it is important that management decisions today align with future climate scenarios. Urban forest management strategies have been proposed to increase resilience of urban forests to shifting climate patterns, such as including urban forests in climate planning and policy, maintaining or increasing canopy cover, enhancing species diversity, restoring ecological systems within cities, and introducing new species that are adapted to future conditions. Further, cities are increasingly focused on utilizing urban forests to increase human health in urban areas, improve accessible and equitable distribution of green space, and promote community engagement with urban forest maintenance. An online survey was distributed to urban forest managers nationwide to understand the extent that these practices have been adopted by communities. We found that while practices have been adopted, the perception of urban forest managers is that they should be adopted to a greater extent. Management practices with the largest implementation gaps include utilizing large-scale green infrastructure, reviewing future climate scenarios, restoring ecological systems, and including forestry in climate planning. We also found that communities whose level of concern for urban forests aligns with their leadership’s level of concern have greater rates of management practice adoption. We suggest several management strategies that may help municipalities achieve their climate adaptation goals.