Counties Going Bald: Tree Cover Loss Over 20 Years

What are three of the main driving factors of tree loss in the U.S.?

1. In Florida: Population growth (human). In 1900, we had around 500,000 people. By the time I was born in the late 60’s we had around 6 million, by the time I was an adult (18 years old) we had nearly doubled that, by 2000, about 16,000,000 million, and today over 23 million.

Roughly 1,000 people per day are moving to Florida and they all need places to live, work, shop, and recreate. These are enormous pressures on the land, and so we are seeing forest and agricultural lands being developed at unprecedented rates to accommodate this demand.

2. In Florida: Development.

3. In Florida: Hurricanes. In places that were devastated by Hurricane Michael, we saw massive loss of forest area. While some of those landowners salvaged and replanted their forests, there are still many that can not afford to do so.

Yes, trees will likely grow back on their own, but they will likely not be as productive as the previously managed forests. Also, some of the landowners are succumbing to the pressure of just selling the land off in most cases for direct development or speculative buyers who are looking to develop in the future.

What are three of the worst consequences resulting from tree loss?

1. Loss of ecosystem services: Water quantity (aquifer recharge), water quality (forest lands act as filtration systems), slow erosion, uptake nutrients, cooling effect of forests, carbon sequestration — the list goes on.

2. In urban areas, the cooling effect is very important — especially in Florida. We know that trees can reduce the impact of the urban heat island effect if canopy cover is sufficient. This has direct and indirect impacts on the health and well-being of the citizens living in these communities. They impact the economic well-being of communities as well — we have the research to back these statements.

3. Biodiversity, which is both relevant just for the innate importance of supporting habitat for multiple species, but, perhaps to bring it home, important for supporting human habitats. When the system is healthy and thriving, we (humans) do as well.

What are three key steps to recovering from regional tree loss?

1. Smarter development. We need to better understand the impacts of development and forest loss so that we can be more strategic in how and where we are developing across the landscape (large scale) and not just making decisions at a very local level where the broader context is not considered. Right hand talking to the left hand sort of thing.

2. Cities and counties need to engage in urban forest management planning which involves answering 4 questions.

• What do you have? They need an understanding of the forest and need an understanding of the values of the citizenry.
• What do you want? A clearly stated future condition of the forest and the services you want it to provide.
• How are you going to get there? An adaptive management plan, that states actions to support meeting goals and the expected results of those actions, for a 5–20 year horizon.
• How do you know if you are there (or getting there)? Plans must have a mechanism to monitor if the actions are achieving the desired outcome and provide a process to adjust based on the feedback received.

3. Education. We need the population and the leaders — city commissioners and county commissioners — to understand the value and importance of a healthy forest and urban forest for the welfare of those areas where we live. They need to understand WHY spending money to support these assets is not just a “nicety” to have if we can afford it but rather a “necessity” that one cannot afford to ignore.

Which U.S. tree species are most at risk from habitat loss or diseases?

Lots of diseases, insects, and invasive plants are impacting native trees and/or plants.

• Torreya tree: Very small range, very few left, and very much impacted by a disease (we may see these go extinct in the next decade or two).
• Laurel wilt (spread by a non-native beetle): taking out our red bays, swamp bays, sassafrass, and other species.
• Lethal bronzing (spread by leafhoppers) and our native cabbage palm (and many other palm species).
• Mangroves are being threatened by a new disease — the list is quite long, really.

What are three of the main driving factors of tree loss in the U.S.?

1. Climate change — drought and disease

2. Forest management practices and deforestation

3. Fire deficit.

What are three of the worst consequences resulting from tree loss?

1. Decrease in air quality

2. Increased urban heat island effect

3. Decrease of ecosystems and their services and loss of biodiversity.

What are three key steps to recovering from regional tree loss?

This is a difficult question, because climate change impacts many different species requirements and, once removed, it’s difficult to regain species back.

1. Although tree planting is a major foundation tool to help aid climate change, if not managed correctly it can be very costly and help very little in carbon sequestration, thus greatly a loss of biodiversity.

2. Design policies around the ecosystems that are affected or could be impacted, bring true scientists on board and educate via public grants to help plant trees in vastly unserved communities.

3. Educate cities in proper tree care and planting (another incentive) and low-intensity prescribed and natural fires.

What are three animals that are endangered due to tree loss?

1. Birds.

2. Insects.

3. Our native bees.

I would suggest looking at the listed threatened and endangered species list.

Which U.S. tree species are most at risk from habitat loss or diseases?

1. Pines, the higher the elevation.

2. Oaks.

3. Joshua trees — they are not actual trees, they belong to the genus Yucca.