i-Tree Species Manual
Contents
1. approval by the U S Department of Agriculture or the Forest Service of any product or service to the exclusion of others that may be suitable The software distributed under the label i Tree Software Suite v 4 0 is provided without warranty of any kind Its use is governed by the End User License Agreement EULA to which the user agrees before installation The i Tree Development Team actively seeks feedback on any component of the project the software suite itself the manuals or the process of development dissemination support and refinement Please send comments through any of the means listed on the i Tree support page http www itreetools org support i Tree Components of the i Tree software suite have been developed over the last few decades by the USDA Forest Service and numerous cooperators Support for the development and release of i Tree v 4 0 has come from USDA Forest Service Research State and Private Forestry and their cooperators through the i Tree Cooperative Partnership of Davey Tree Expert Company the Arbor Day Foundation Society of Municipal Arborists the International Society of Arboriculture and Casey Trees i Tree Species Selector i Tree Species Selector was developed by David J Nowak and colleagues at the US Forest Service Northern Research Station and SUNY ESF including Jack Stevens and Paul Lilly Horticopia Inc provided use of their plant database which helped facilitate the development of2. the functional tree database The user interface was developed by Lianghu Tian and collaborators at The Davey Institute The manual was edited and designed by Kelaine Vargas Table of Contents Introduction Desktop laptop computer requirements Installation System Requirements Installation Using the Software Species Selector Interface Location Height constraints Air pollutant removal Other functions Viewing Reports Exporting and Printing oOo oao A 0 OO YO wo WhwS NY ND YP Report notes The Species Selector is a free standing i Tree utility that ranks tree species based on their environmental benefits at maturity As such it complements existing tree selection programs that rank species based on esthetics or other features Species are selected based on three types of information First hardiness is considered The hardiness zone is determined based on state and city and all species that are not sufficiently hardy are eliminated from consideration Second mature height is considered Users are asked to specify minimum and maximum heights and species outside of that range are eliminated Finally eight environmental factors are considered in the rankings created by the Species Selector e Air pollution removal e Air temperature reduction Ultraviolet radiation reduction e Carbon storage Pollen allergenicity Building energy conservation e Wind reduction e Stream flow reduction stormwater management Users are
3. a database and information from Dirr 1997 and Sunset 1985 Average value was rounded to nearest hardiness zone class 1 11 Three asterisks High uncertainty regarding hardiness zone hardiness zone estimate based on family average of minimum and maximum hardiness zones derived from Horticopia database and information from Dirr 1997 and Sunset 1985 Average value was rounded to nearest hardiness zone class 1 11 Sensitivity S indicates the species is sensitive to the pollutant I indicates an intermediate rating between sensitive and tolerant and S I indicates a mix of sensitive and intermediate ratings in the literature
4. asked to rank the importance of each of these factors on a scale of 0 to 10 The combination of hardiness mature height and desired functionality produces a ranked list of appropriate species from an initial database of about 1 600 species The large species database covers a broad range of native naturalized and exotic trees some of which are commonly planted in urban areas Since only city hardiness zone tree height and user functional preferences are used to produce the list there may well be many species on the list that are unsuitable to the local context for a variety of reasons A species may have particular structural drainage sun pest or soil pH limitations that should exclude it from use Furthermore since many native and exotic species are included items may appear that are simply not available in the local trade For these reasons the list should be considered a beginning rather than an end The list will need to be whittled down to meet local needs and limitations Relevant cultural needs should be taken into account as well The result will be a list of recommended species suited for local use that maximizes environmental services Users interested in the methods used to create the Species Selector can find documentation under Help gt Methods Minimum hardware e Pentium or compatible 1600 Mhz or faster processor e 512 MB of available RAM e Hard drive with at least 500 MB free space e Monitor with resolution of at l
5. ave entered into a cooperative partnership to further develop disseminate and provide technical support for the suite The i Tree software suite v 4 0 includes the following urban forest analysis tools and utility programs i Tree Eco provides a broad picture of the entire urban forest It is designed to use field data from randomly located plots throughout a community along with local hourly air pollution and meteorological data to quantify urban forest structure environmental effects and value to communities i Tree Streets focuses on the ecosystem services and structure of a municipality s street tree population It makes use of a sample or complete inventory to quantify and put a dollar value on the trees annual environmental and aesthetic benefits including energy conservation air quality improvement carbon dioxide reduction stormwater control and property value increases i Tree Hydro Beta is the first vegetation specific urban hydrology model It is designed to model the effects of changes in urban tree cover and impervious surfaces on hourly stream flows and water quality at the watershed level i Tree Vue allows you to make use of freely available national land cover data maps to assess your community s land cover including tree canopy and some of the ecosystem services provided by your current urban forest The effects of planting scenarios on future benefits can also be modeled i Tree Species Selector is a free
6. ctor an algorithm is applied to your selections and all of the species in the database are ordered according to your choices Species outside of your mature height range and outside of your hardiness zone are dropped from the list You can choose whether to view the best matches select Top 10 or to view the entire ranked list grouped into 10 categories select All To view the report click the View Report button From the Species Report window the report can be exported as a pdf or rtf file by clicking the Export button or printed by clicking the Print icon button Report notes Hardiness zones Information on hardiness zones was derived from the Horticopia database and based on USDA hardiness zones For zones with a decimal rating e g 4 5 values were rounded down for maximum hardiness e g 4 and up for minimum hardiness zone e g 5 One asterisk Some uncertainty regarding hardiness zone hardiness zone estimates derived from Dirr M A Dirr 1975 Manual of Woody Landscape Plants Stipes Champaign IL 1007 p and Sunset 1985 New Western Garden Book Lane Menlo Park CA 512 p As hardiness estimates or maps did not always exactly match USDA Hardiness zone ranges some extrapolations were made to the closest hardiness zone Two asterisks Moderate uncertainty regarding hardiness zone hardiness zone estimate based on genera average of minimum and maximum hardiness zones derived from Horticopi
7. e tree height if desired Air pollutant removal Several options are available here You can consider a tree s overall air pollution removal capabilities or you can rank individual pollutants as more or less important To consider the overall air pollutant contribution of a tree select Overall and rate the importance of air pollution from 0 10 with 10 as most important Choosing O means air pollution removal will not be considered during species selection If you wish to rank the different pollutants individually select Specific Then for each of the five pollutants rate its importance from 0 10 with 10 as most important Again choosing O means that the pollutant will be ignored during selection Other functions This section functions similarly to the preceding one where a 0 in any category means that this environmental function will be ignored during selection Seven environmental functions are considered Low VOC emissions Some species emit biogenic volatile organic compounds VOCs which are a precursor to ozone formation Rank the importance of selecting species that have low VOC emissions on a scale from 0 10 Air temperature reduction Trees can help reduce the urban heat island effect through evapotranspiration Rank the importance of selecting species to lower air temperatures on a scale from 0 10 Streamflow reduction Trees can help slow stormwater runoff and the flow of water into streams and rivers by intercepting rai
8. east 800 x 600 Software e Windows XP service pack 2 or higher OS To install Species Selector 1 Visit www itreetools org to download the software or insert the i Tree Installation CD into your CD ROM drive 2 Follow the on screen instructions to run the itree_setup exe file This may take several minutes depending on which files need to be installed 3 Follow the Installation Wizard instructions to complete the installation default location recommended You can check for the latest updates at any time by clicking Help gt Check for Updates To open the Species Selector Utility click Start gt All Programs gt i Tree and then select Species Selector The interface of the Species Selector is straightforward and should be filled in from top to bottom Each section is described in detail below Location Each of the four location boxes needs to be completed in order e Nation e State e City e County The county name will be filled in automatically as soon as city name is supplied unless the city straddles two counties in that case a choice will be available on the pull down County menu Users outside the United States will not be asked for state city and county information However they must select an average minimum temperature range from the drop down box and enter the number of days their growing season typically lasts Height constraints Species selection can be restricted to suit limitations in typical matur
9. i lree Species Selector User s Manual i Tree is a cooperative initiative ma Sh DAVEY Arbor Day Foundation E E AANZE M caseyTrees i Tree is a state of the art peer reviewed software suite from the USDA Forest Service that provides urban and community forestry analysis and benefits assessment tools The i Tree tools help communities of all sizes to strengthen their urban forest management and advocacy efforts by quantifying the environmental services that trees provide and assessing the structure of the urban forest i Tree has been used by communities non profit organizations consultants volunteers and students to report on the urban forest at all scales from individual trees to parcels neighborhoods cities and entire states By understanding the local tangible ecosystem services that trees provide i Tree users can link urban forest management activities with environmental quality and community livability Whether your interest is a single tree or an entire forest i Tree provides baseline data that you can use to demonstrate value and set priorities for more effective decision making Developed by USDA Forest Service and numerous cooperators i Tree is in the public domain and available by request through the i Tree website www itreetools org The Forest Service Davey Tree Expert Company the Arbor Day Foundation Society of Municipal Arborists the International Society of Arboriculture and Casey Trees h
10. nfall and through evapotranspiration Rank the importance of selecting species for their potential to reduce runoff and stream flow on a scale from 0 10 Carbon storage Trees sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it as woody material Rank the importance of selecting species for their potential to capture carbon dioxide on a scale from 0 10 UV radiation reduction Plant leaves absorb 90 95 of UV radiation that passes through them which can help protect us from sunburn and associated skin damage including cancer Rank the importance of selecting species for their potential to reduce ultraviolet radiation on a scale from 0 10 Low allergenicity Different tree species produce different amounts of allergy causing pollen Rank the importance of selecting species for their reduced potential to cause allergic reactions on a scale from 0 10 Wind reduction Strategically planted trees can serve as wind breaks reducing heating energy needs Rank the importance of selecting species for their ability to slow the flow of wind on a scale from 0 10 Building energy reduction Trees can reduce building energy use indirectly by reducing the overall urban heat island effect and directly by shading buildings and serving as wind breaks Rank the importance of selecting species for their potential to reduce the heating and cooling demand of a building on a scale from 0 10 Once you ve ranked the importance of each environmental fa
11. standing utility designed to help urban foresters select the most appropriate tree species based on environmental function and geographic area i Tree Storm helps you to assess widespread community damage in a simple credible and efficient manner immediately after a severe storm It is adaptable to various community types and sizes and provides information on the time and funds needed to mitigate storm damage i Tree Design beta is a simple online tool that provides a platform for assessments of individual trees at the parcel level This tool links to Google Maps and allows you to see how tree selection tree size and placement around your home effects energy use and other benefits This beta tool is the first stage in development of more sophisticated options that will be available in future versions i Tree Canopy offers a quick and easy way to produce a statistically valid estimate of land cover types e g tree cover using aerial images available in Google Maps The data can be used by urban forest managers to estimate tree canopy cover set canopy goals and track success and to estimate inputs for use in i Tree Hydro and elsewhere where land cover data are needed All beta programs are still in development therefore feedback is particularly appreciated The use of trade firm or corporation names in this publication is solely for the information and convenience of the reader Such use does not constitute an official endorsement or
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