IU researchers to survey tree management

IU researchers want to know exactly what you’re doing in your backyard — at least when it comes to trees.

A survey is being conducted that analyzes how citizens of Bloomington make decisions about managing their lawns and trees.

Researchers from the Center for the Study of Institutions, Population and Environmental Change at IU’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs are conducting the survey.

Recent storms downed hundreds of trees on IU’s campus and on city property, significantly changing Bloomington’s tree landscape.

The tree damage will likely cost the city and IU thousands of dollars in clean up and replacement costs.

While the weather certainly had a large impact on Bloomington’s urban tree population, residents can have an equally large impact.

The researchers sent about 1,000 surveys to specific areas in Bloomington at the beginning of June.

The goal of the project is to see how institutions, like local government, influence the way people think about the local ecosystem.

They are particularly interested in how neighborhood associations, homeowners associations and municipal governments impact people’s decisions about land use.

Stressing the significant impact that urbanites can have on the ecosystem, the researchers said on their website that “more than half the world’s population now lives in urban areas and that figure is projected to increase in the future.”

The increase in urban populations has “resulted in tremendous pressure on urban environments, including urban forests,” the researchers said.

Urban forests are shrinking, according to the report, “elevating the importance of research to understand how the interactions between people, their institutions and the biophysical environment influence the sustainability of urban ecosystems.”

Urban forests are an integral part of an urban area that wants its growth to be sustainable, the researchers said.

Analyzing how people think about trees on a day-to-day basis will help local government determine the effectiveness of their urban forestry policies.

To encourage responses, recipients of the survey can request a free 20-minute ecological survey.

The survey will provide will analyze recipients’ property and provide them with information on the types of trees present on the property and an estimate of the carbon content of vegetation present there.

— Zach Ammerman