Urban Forestry Term Paper

Urban Forestry

Describe where you would locate your urban forest and explain why you would locate it there. Remember to take into account major features, waterways, elevations, roads, etc. As well as climate and soils of the location. You can describe the area by noting bordering roads and features.

The devastation created by Hurricane Katrina was at least partially due to the decision to build homes in areas highly prone to flooding during frequent storms. Given the likelihood of another catastrophic hurricane, 'locating' an urban forest as inland as possible on elevated ground would be essential. "New Orleans offers an opportunity to study an urban forest in a subtropical environment…The city has been built on the natural levees of the Mississippi River, backswamps, marshes, and reclaimed land along Lake Pontchartrain. Little of the natural vegetative cover of the site remains; today's urban forest is anthropogenic" (Talarchek 1987: 217). This means that virtually any urban forest created will be human-engineered, rather than a natural extension of the environment. The designers must seek to ensure that the forest is far away from the lowest-lying areas yet is still accessible to a cross-section of the population by virtue of being accessible by public transportation.

Q2. What species of trees would you plant in this forest? Consider the uses of the forest in your selection. Describe the characteristics of the species that make them appropriate for your location. Be specific and keep in mind that a wide variety of tree species are necessary for forest health, especially preventing serious insect and disease damage to your forest.Include at least 6 species.

Fruit trees are popular trees, and the harvest from the trees could either be sold to local restaurants and canneries or donated to anti-poverty and food support programs. "The Celeste fig is the cultivar most gardeners grow because of its reliability and the fruit is a great size for preserves" (Gill 2012). Pear trees also thrive in New Orleans climate, such as the "Baldwin, Garber, Orient, Kieffer, Biscamp and LeConte" (Gill 2012).

Although many of New Orleans' trees were destroyed during Katrina, many others continue to thrive and the trees that did survive. The post-Katrina experience underlines the suitability of oaks for the region. "The city's live oaks, in particular -- the massive, gnarly trees that give New Orleans so much of its shade and character -- braved Katrina with particular aplomb. These trees, some of them hundreds of years old, are well adapted to this storm-prone, watery environment" (New Orleans' urban forests survived Katrina, 2005, MSNBC). Another durable tree was the cypress: "light, flexible cypress, which bent with the winds, but did not break (New Orleans' urban forests survived Katrina, 2005, MSNBC).

Citrus trees are popular in New Orleans, including orange trees. Pecan trees, although they fared less well during the storm, are another tree which is aesthetically beautiful but also useful because of their yield of nuts (New Orleans' urban forests survived Katrina, 2005, MSNBC). But it must be remembered that although New Orleans is a consistently warm climate, it still experiences freezing temperatures, thus trees suited….....