Students map 3,516 trees on campus

Calvin College biology and geography students recently completed a tree inventory and launched an online tree map with details on the size, species, location and age of more than 3,500 trees on the west-side of Calvin's campus.
See full story: www.calvin.edu/news/archive/mapping-calvin-s-trees
Watch video of tree mapping: www.vimeo.com/29058720
View online tree map: http://gis.calvin.edu/trees
The tree inventory is a year's-worth of work that began in the fall of 2010 under the direction of Calvin College biology professor Dave Warners and geography professor Jason VanHorn.
"As we start thinking about a more sustainable campus and trying to become carbon neutral, it seemed to make sense that we needed to document the trees on campus," Warners said. "In order to know how much carbon sequestration we have on campus, we have to know the number and size of trees."
Last fall, Warners and VanHorn initiated the project with students in their respective plant taxonomy and GIS classes. Students roamed the campus with meter sticks, notebooks and GPS devices in hand. The students documented various attributes of every tree of at least five inches in diameter.
VanHorn's students developed a data dictionary--a method for data collection that includes an attributes' table--on the college's state-of-the-art hand-held GPS receivers. Warners' students then took those receivers and entered data--including species, diameter, estimated height, estimated canopy, health and habitat--for every one of Calvin's trees west of the Beltline, the major road that divides the east and west-side of campus.
"This project was fantastic for my students," said VanHorn. "This kind of learning is directly applicable to the job industry; expertise in GPS technology is an extremely marketable skill."
Warners' students also received valuable training on the GPS units, and they were able to put their tree identification skills to the test.
Among the summary statistics was the total number of trees (3,516), the number of species (112), the number of landscaped vs. natural trees (1138/2378) and the number of each type of tree: Norway Spruce is the most common at 305. There are 194 Red Oak trees and 157 Sugar Maples. The Kentucky Coffee Tree is the most unique, according to Warners; there are three of these on campus.
One student wanted to take the project a step further and make the data more user-friendly. So, under Warners' direction, junior geography major Owen Selles spent this past summer incorporating the data into an online tree map.
The online map includes all of the information gathered by Warners' class about each tree on campus; trees can be searched by species, by health and by a number of other categories.
The map makes it easier to identify and treat trees like the White Ash, which is susceptible to pests like the Emerald Ash Borer, Warners added: "You can just pull up the map and see all of the White Ash trees on campus; it's a very powerful tool for taking care of trees."
"We're called to be stewards and the first step of being serious stewards is knowing what it is you're stewarding," said Selles. "That's what makes this map worthwhile."
Future plans for the project include adding a data and methods section to the map, which allows users to download Calvin's dataset as a Google Earth kml, ArcGIS shapefile and Excel table. The group will also be putting together a FAQ that describes how to conduct a tree survey with GPS units based on the method's they used in collecting data. The Arbor Day Foundation will also be highlighting this project nationally among its members.
For more info, contact Warners at 616-526-6820 or VanHorn at 616-526-7623.
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Received on Mon Sep 26 09:56:18 2011