Urban Forest Master Plan Species Designation Update Public - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Urban Forest Master Plan Species Designation Update

Public Landscape Division Urban Forest Task Force’s Species Subcommittee

Presentation Outline

City of Santa Monica’s Urban Forest 2011 Urban Forest Master Plan Updated Species Selection Street Tree Planting Priority Model City’s Future Urban Forest

Santa Monica’s Urban Forest

33,000 public trees 28,000 street trees

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Santa Monica’s Urban Forest

2011 Urban Forest Master Plan

Strengths

• Comprehensive & Living document
• City Council approved
• Broke City into 394 management segments
• Defined diversity plan – 10% per species
• Good levels of Community input
• Native & new species selected

Weaknesses

• Relatively Low diversity goal
• Climate change (drought) not considered
• Some invasive species selected
• Only one species choice on many segments
• Planting space not always linked to species
• Unproven species specified
• Some species not available from growers
• No planting priority plan included

Strengths Weaknesses

Planning for Drought Stress

55% of public trees in Santa Monica have a moderate water demand and 44% are categorized as low (Xiao & McPherson, 2015)

Poor Performance of New Species Introductions

Reducing Future Management Costs

A Systematic Street Tree Species Selection Process

Authors Diversity Recommendations Miller and Miller (1991); Smiley, Kielbaso and Proffer (1986) No species shall exceed 10% of the population Kielbaso (1989) No species should exceed 5% and no genus should exceed 10% Santamour (2002) Plant no more than 10% of any species, no more than 20% of any genus and no more than 30% of any family

Improve Species Diversity

Species Selection Criteria

Right Tree,Right Place

Biological Climate appropriate and sustainable with minimal additional resources

Physical Will not require constant pruning to contain physical size

Species Selection Matrix

Selecting Species per Segment

Parkway Width Presence

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Overhead Wires Was the Species Selected in 2011 UFMP Suitable? Is the Current Species Successful? Confirm a Primary and Secondary Species

Where Are We Now, Where Are We Going to Be?

0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14%

Current Future

59 Primary Species in Total

Wilshire Medians

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Olympic Boulevard Median

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Getting to the Future Street Tree Planting Prioritization: A Five-Year Plan

Planting Prioritization Model

• Urban Forest
• Population Need
• Environmental

Need

Street Tree Planting Priority

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Towards a Sustainable Future

Thank You!

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• r call the Public Landscape Office at 310 458 8974.