Trees in poorer, more racially diverse neighborhoods were more likely to be damaged than those in affluent, predominantly white neighborhoods across a 29-city study, Cornell researchers reported.
The researchers compared on-the-ground assessments of 23,659 trees in 3,166 representative plots with census measures of neighborhood income, housing and demographics, according to Cornell's report on the study published Sept. 17 in Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. On average, 17% of trees were damaged in the whitest, most affluent neighborhoods, compared with nearly 60% in poorer, racially diverse neighborhoods.
The researchers also reported 7% fewer leaves and higher tree mortality in minority neighborhoods. Those measures matter because healthier, mature trees generally provide more shade, cooling, air-pollution reduction and stormwater control, though this study did not measure the exact health or temperature effects in each neighborhood.
First author Maya Mangala-Munuma developed the project from an undergraduate honors thesis at Cornell. Senior author Daniel Katz said earlier research had documented unequal tree coverage from aerial images, but looking only at the number of trees could miss differences in their condition.
The analysis used the federal Urban Forest Inventory & Analysis program's representative plots, not a census of every tree in each city. The study found an association between neighborhood characteristics and tree condition; it did not establish why trees were more damaged. Katz suggested lower homeownership and the legacy of discriminatory housing practices as possible contributors, not causes proven by this analysis.
The Cornell team is now working with satellite data to identify individual trees at risk. The published 29-city findings are national and do not provide a separate Finger Lakes estimate.
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