| This dissertation portfolio addresses the question: What is the impact of maintenance on planted urban street tree outcomes? It uses data from a sample of recently-planted trees in Indianapolis neighborhoods. Chapter 1 reviews the literature on the costs of maintaining and not maintaining urban trees, and finds that the costs (monetary or biological) of maintenance activities that are not line items in City budgets, such as watering, are not well studied. Chapter 2 presents a protocol for learning more about recently-planted urban trees, including evidence of tree care and maintenance, using citizen scientists to augment data collection abilities of professionals. Chapters 3 and 4 examine the impact of watering strategies on neighborhood-planted trees in Indianapolis, finding that collective watering positively impacts tree survival (Chapter 3), but that there are other elements of watering strategies (e.g., signed agreements) that also have a positive impact on tree outcomes (Chapter 4). To explore the impact of maintenance scenarios on tree outcomes more explicitly, this dissertation concludes by proposing that future research should examine the type of maintenance activity, who performs the maintenance, and the intensity, frequency, duration, and extent of maintenance activities. Linking this information to the costs of maintenance activities will allow researchers to determine what is optimal maintenance, and help urban forest managers make better decisions when allocating limited maintenance resources. |
