Evaluation of Changes in Urban Forests in The Annex Neighbourhood, Toronto from 2010 to 2022

Urban forests are an essential component of green and sustainable communities. They play a critical role in ecological and social wellbeing by providing beneficial ecosystem services which improve environment and human health. Nonetheless, urban and infrastructure development, invasive species, and environmental stresses threaten urban tree survivorship. While public trees are often well-documented, there is limited knowledge and research related to trees on private land. This highlights the need to implement community urban forestry stewardship programs to determine baseline condition, understand changes and trends, and protect the urban forest from further deterioration. This project aims to evaluate and analyze changes in the urban forest in the Annex neighbourhood in Toronto in terms of several tree attributes derived from the Neighbourwoods inventory protocol. This project will assess changes in urban forest structure, composition, abundance, and condition through time, informing actions to improve urban forest health and associated human health and wellbeing.

Faculty Supervisor:

Danijela Puric-Mladenovic

Student:

Partner:

The Annex Residents' Association

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

Other services (except public administration)

University:

University of Toronto

Program: