UF/IFAS experts to share research at global symposium on urban tree economics

 

ED GILMAN

UF/IFAS Professor Ed Gilman

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Global experts, including three from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, will share knowledge at an international symposium focused on the economics of urban tree management, March 18-19, in Tampa, Florida.

The meeting brings together experts from around the world and innovative professionals working with some of America’s largest and longest-standing urban forestry programs: New York and Milwaukee.

Those attending the conference will explore the value of trees as part of urban green infrastructure, try to quantify the costs associated with poor urban forest management practices and examine the potential benefits that can be reaped from proper planning and maintenance.

Once these costs and benefits have been evaluated, urban foresters, utility vegetation managers and elected officials can make effective management decisions, according to the program’s website, http://www.isa-arbor.com/events/eventsCalendar/index.aspx?ID=2077.

Andrew Koeser, an assistant professor and Ed Gilman, a professor, both in environmental horticulture, along with UF/IFAS Hillsborough County Extension Agent Rob Northrop will talk at “The Cost of Not Maintaining Trees Symposium and Research Summit.”

Last year, Koeser and Gilman published a study on the success of Florida’s urban tree-planting program. Northrop and Koeser work extensively with the city of Tampa on its tree management program.

According to the symposium’s program, Gilman will talk about “Structural Pruning Using ANSI (American National Standards Institute) Pruning Methods.” Pruning the correct live branches can have a dramatic impact on how well a tree is able to weather a storm, the program says. Gilman will provide the latest scientifically based tree care for customers.

Koeser, who works at the UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Balm, Florida, will trace the carbon footprint of an urban tree from seedling to chipper and beyond.

The International Society of Arboriculture, Florida Urban Forestry Council and Florida Chapter of the ISA will host the meeting at the University of South Florida.

In addition to the UF/IFAS experts, speakers include Nobel Laureate David Nowak, a forest project leader with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Northern Research Station in Syracuse, New York. Nowak’s research investigates urban forest structure, health and change, and their effects on air quality and greenhouse gases. His work has led to an extremely successful suite of urban forestry management and modeling tools called i-Tree.

Nowak will focus on the pros and cons of ways to place monetary values on tree benefits, as well as limits in understanding the value of urban forests.

The symposium will be at USF’s Patel College of Global Sustainability, 11710 Maple Drive, Tampa, Florida. For more information about the symposium, go to www.isa-arbor.com/costofnotmaintainingtrees.

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By: Brad Buck, 352-294-3303, bradbuck@ufl.edu

Source: Andrew Koeser, 813-633-4150, akoeser@ufl.edu

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Posted: March 16, 2015


Category: Agriculture, Conservation, Forests, UF/IFAS
Tags: Trees


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