An urban forest in a rural town: biodiversity, ecosystem services, and management of trees on the Appalachian State University campus

The objectives of this study were to: 1) identify all trees on campus, 2) determine the size distributions for each tree species, 3) assess the health and risk status of each tree, and finally, 4) to quantify and compare ecosystem services of trees on ASU’s managed campus as well as the adjacent Nature Preserve using i-Tree Eco protocols. A two-part assessment of the urban forests at Appalachian State University (ASU) in Boone, NC was conducted from 2010-2012. The first component compared the managed portions of the campus (85.8 ha) with the adjacent, unmanaged Nature Preserve (27.1 ha), both of which are part of the ASU campus. i-Tree Eco protocols were applied to all trees inventoried on the managed campus, as well as plot-based samples in the Nature Preserve. On the managed campus, 3,228 trees were inventoried. The Nature Preserve contains approximately 18,812 trees. The second portion of the project included a hazard assessment of every tree on the managed portions of campus, as well as suggested management practices. Management practices, such as the suitable placement of species on specific sites, appropriate care (pruning), and accurate treatment with pesticides can all contribute to healthy urban/campus forests.