Pest and environmental factors influencing the success of young street trees in urban tree planting programs

Cities across the U.S. are implementing tree planting programs as part of strategic plans to replace aging urban forests. Previous studies have attempted to quantify stewardship and land use factors, but little is known about how pest abundance and diversity affect the young trees in these planting programs.  In addition, trees in urban heat islands are known to have more insect pests than surrounding areas, but this hasn’t been adequately investigated as a contributing factor to tree mortality in city-run planting programs. This study examines differences in tree species’ responses to urban conditions and considers how insect pests affect the health and condition of young street trees in cities.