We have finally finished all 31 blocks we planned to cover in South Orange and have cataloged all public trees in this area. This week we covered blocks 2009 and 2013 which were the final two blocks on our schedule. These two blocks only had 23 public trees mainly on block 2013. Covering these blocks this semester was a daunting task but very rewarding. In total we documented 694 trees in this strip of South Orange. Completing this project made me realize the fragility of trees even within resident neighborhoods. Especially in South Orange we have seen that the White Ash tree is the most common tree we recorded and is a very vulnerable tree species due to the threat of yellow ash disease and the Emerald Ash Borer insect. Hopefully TreePlotter will continue to help towns like South Orange long after I graduate. Working on this project made me realize how much I can contribute to improving our environment no matter how small.
This block shows that the majority of the trees in these two blocks were Red Maple trees making up 30% of the 10 most common trees in this block. The White Ash made up about 17% of this list which is less than the American Elm which consisted about 21% of this chart. In comparison to last week these blocks also seem to favor trees that have a unique aesthetic like the Red Maple tree in these blocks. The Norway Maple also makes up about 8% of this chart which is alarming since it is an invasive species. Block 2009 had no public trees except for one tree stump because of barely any public sidewalks in this block.
Now with the completed data set we can see that of the most common trees in this strip of South Orange, about 30% is made up of the White Ash tree which is almost one third of this chart. It seems that the trees in this chart are favored over others for the different aesthetic and functions they serve like the Pin Oak which grows extremely tall having it's branches grow more towards the top being planted in areas with more car traffic. The Red Maple and Kwanzan Cherry serve a clear aesthetic "colorful" look to beautify the area. The White Ash tree is possibly a cheap option for an all around normal tree which might be more practical, safer, and beneficial to the ecosystem when compared to other trees on this list. The "Not Specified" category includes tree stumps, some young trees that were difficult to identify, and the rare adult tree that was difficult to identify. This category being present in the this chart is something that should be investigated by the town as to minimize the waste of resources. Overall I hope this blog was helpful in breaking down the public tree data in this sample size of South Orange. TreePlotter was such an easy an effective tool to visualize public tree data. One aspect of TreePlooter I would change is the Chart data visualization like the Pie Chart I have been using from only including the ten most common tree species in that area to all the tree species in that area. This would make the chart more accurate and helpful than what we have now. It was great to learn about the trees in South Orange with my partner Melanie, and I hope more work goes into adding all the trees in South Orange on TreePlotter after I graduate. I will take what I have learned thanks to working on this project forward in what I do in the future in regards to our environment.
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