Residential Knowledge of Native Tree Species: A Case Study of Residents in Four Southern Ontario Municipalities

Abstract

In the past decade, municipalities across North America have increased investment in their urban forests in an effort to maintain and enhance the numerous benefits provided by them. Some municipalities have now drafted long-term urban forest management plans that emphasize the planting of native trees, to improve ecological integrity, and participation of residents, since the majority of urban trees are typically located on residential property. Yet it is unclear if residents are familiar with native trees or municipalities' urban forest management goals. Through a case study of southern Ontario municipalities, we administered a survey exploring residents' ability to correctly label common tree species as native or non-native, as well as their knowledge of urban forest management plans to test four hypotheses: 1) residents in municipalities with an urban forest management plans will be more knowledgeable about the native status of common street trees; 2) residents who have lived in the area longer will have greater knowledge; 3) knowledge level will be correlated with education level, ethnicity, and income; and 4) residents' knowledge will be related to having planted trees on their property. Our results indicate that residents are better able to identify common native trees than correctly determine which trees are non-native, although knowledge levels are generally low. Knowledge was significantly related to length of residency and tree planting experience, supporting hypotheses 2 and 4. These results highlight the importance of experience and local knowledge acquisition in relation to basic knowledge about urban trees, and also point to the failures of resident outreach within the case study municipalities.

Comparison of Attitudes towards Roadside Vegetation Management across an Exurban Landscape

“…Despite an observed understanding of tradeoffs between reliable power and preserving trees, the importance of aesthetics was also revealed by respondents. This result supported previous studies suggesting aesthetic preferences impelled homeowner decisions about tree management [43,68,92]. For example, Shakeel and Conway [93] suggested that household tree management decisions were prompted by the physical characteristics of properties, such as available planting space that could accommodate large tree species on larger parcels versus short trees on smaller properties.…”

“…Almas and Conway [68] further noted that those in their study who were more knowledgeable about native trees were more likely to have read municipal forestry documents. As suggested by Almas and Conway [100], opportunities also exist for municipalities with specific planning goals to engage in public outreach to seek support for and prioritization of species for tree planting by residents. Therefore, there likely is opportunity for further communication between vegetation managers and the public, particularly to (1) provide information about trees and tree maintenance, (2) explain reasons why vegetation management is important for mitigating power outages, (3) present supporting evidence of successes resulting from such vegetation management, and (4) suggest actions residents can take on their own property to reduce potential for vegetation-related risk to powerlines.…”

“…More central to our analysis, Kuhns and Reiter [42] reported that individuals more knowledgeable about trees were more likely to favor tree trimming practices that encouraged tree growth [42]. Almas and Conway [68] further noted that those in their study who were more knowledgeable about native trees were more likely to have read municipal forestry documents. As suggested by Almas and Conway [100], opportunities also exist for municipalities with specific planning goals to engage in public outreach to seek support for and prioritization of species for tree planting by residents.…”

“…Attitudes measure favor or disfavor towards a person, object, event, or situation [66]. Past research relevant to this study has included evaluating attitudes related to urban tree maintenance [67], native trees [68], and forest management [69]. To assess attitudes toward vegetation management, we measured respondent agreement with a series of attitude statements on the survey.…”

Attitudes toward Residential Trees and Awareness of Tree Services and Disservices in a Tropical City

“…Thus, human attitudes could be an important psychological driver influencing the composition of urban residential yards.Human attitudes are an important component of urban social-ecological systems that relates to the actual interactions of people with urban green space. Studies documenting human attitudes toward trees are more frequently used in the literature to understand the relationships between residents and urban trees [49,[59][60][61][62][63]. Research suggests that these people-environment interactions consist of complex and dynamic exchanges that enrich and shape one's knowledge of the environment, while shaping the environment as well [64].…”