Recipient Organization
TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY
3500 JOHN A. MERRITT BLVD
NASHVILLE,TN 37209
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
With urbanization and climate change-induced extreme heat, it is urgent to provide nature-based solutions such as urban forests to mitigate increasing heat hazards and provide a better environment for the increasing urban population, especially in historically excluded communities. It is also important to better understand the nexus of urban tree canopy equity, heat vulnerability, and community needs and grow future climate-resilient trees. The overall goal of this project is to strengthen TSU's urban forestry program by addressing the main research questions at three levels: 1) At the city level, what are the relationships between tree canopy cover and heat exposure? How are they related to socioeconomic factors (e.g., income, race, education)? Where are the most vulnerable areas and where should be prioritized for future tree planting from an equity perspective? 2) At the community level, what are the perceptions, experiences, and needs of historically excluded populations regarding urban tree canopy equity, heat exposure, and future tree planting? And 3) At the site level, which urban tree species are better for heat-tolerant and/or cooling effects in the region? With a multidisciplinary team and public-private partnerships, we will use spatial analysis, social science, field studies, modeling, and expert consultation to address those questions. It will strengthen TSU's urban forestry program, fill knowledge gaps, train next-generation scientists, enhance USDA-HBCUs partnerships, and have long-lasting impacts on diverse stakeholders in the region. It also aligns well with the CBG's need areas and priority areas of bioenergy/biofuel and natural resources and environmental sciences and climate change.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The overall goal of this project is to strengthen TSU's urban forestry program by developing aresearch project to better understand climate-resilient urban forests, heat equity, and communityneeds, especially for historically excluded populations. Our multidisciplinary team (urban forestry,geospatial science, climate change, environmental equity, biology) will use spatial analysis (i.e., GIS, remote sensing), field studies(with high-tech sensors), and community science to address these questions. Specifically, we will map urban tree canopy and heat equity at the city level, conduct community consultation about urban tree canopy and heat equity experiences and needs, and study heat-tolerant urban trees at the site level. The main research questions to be addressed include:Q1: At the city level, what are the relationships between tree canopy cover and heat exposure? How are they related to socioeconomic factors (e.g., household incomes, race, educational levels)? Where are the most vulnerable areas and where should be prioritized for future tree planting from an equity perspective?Q2: At the community level, what are the perceptions, experiences, and needs of historically excluded populations regarding urban tree canopy equity, heat exposure, and future tree planting?Q3: At the site level, which urban tree species are better for heat-tolerant and/or cooling effects in the region?
Project Methods
Q1: At the city level, what are the relationships between tree canopy cover and heat exposure? How are they related to socioeconomic factors (e.g., household incomes, race, educational levels)? Where are the most vulnerable areas and where should be prioritized for future tree planting from an equity perspective?Team: Reginald Archer, Yujuan Chen, De'Etra Young, Ge Sun, and Lauren Thomas QuigleyWe will use Nashville, TN as a pilot city to address these questions. Geospatial information systems (GIS) offer the ability to capture, store, analyze, and visualize various forms of data and information from multiple sources. First, we will engage in a citywide analysis of land use and land cover (LULC) data (including tree canopy and impervious surfaces) as well as atmospheric temperature using the latest National Land Cover Database (NLCD 2019). Then, we will employ GIS tools and analysis to link LULC data with socioeconomic factors (e.g., household income, demographics, education) as well as redlining maps to determine how tree canopy coverand heat exposure are distributed and identify any spatial patterns for further analysis, thus illustrating the spatial nexus of health-promoting environments, heat equity, and socioeconomic factors. Lastly, we will identify the most vulnerable areas for future tree planting and environmental equity concerns (e.g., low tree canopy, high heat exposure, redlined neighborhood, disadvantaged communities) based on the analysis. In addition, we will leverage available computational and environmental tools from IBM to measure and monitor environmental factors such as atmospheric temperature to provide real-time analysis to researchers and community members. Geostatistical methods such as Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR), a local form of linear regression, will be performed to model spatially varying relationships. GWR helps generate local parameter estimates for specific geographic locations in the data (Matthews and Yang, 2012). Spatial statistics will be used to describe characteristics and spatial patterns of the cumulative environmental impacts on health outcomes.Q2: At the community level, what are the perceptions, experiences, and needs of historically excluded populations regarding urban tree canopy equity, heat exposure, and future tree planting?Team: Yujuan Chen, Jason de Koff, De'Etra Young, and Francisco EscobedoBased on the results from Q1, we will select one historically excluded community under the most vulnerable category in Nashville to engage in a listening session (expected to be attended by about 20 community leaders) followed by a survey (expected to be participated by about 100 community members) using Qualtrics to better understand their perceptions, experiences, and needs regarding urban tree canopy equity, heat exposure, and future tree planting. For example, questions will include their perceptions and interests in urban forests, their heat exposure experience and current mitigation strategies, and their needs and preferences for future tree planting. Moreover, the survey and listening session have been conditionally approved by TSU's Institutional Review Board Research (#HS-2023-4935; see attached letter for details) and we will apply for full approval if funded. We will work with extension agents from Tennessee Cooperate Extension in Davidson County where the city of Nashville is located to identify community leaders in the identified community for the listening session.We will also use their contact database, especially the Family and Consumer Sciences program, to disseminate the online survey.The findings from the survey and listening session will be used to inform the development of Q3 and extension materials and activities. In addition, opportunities will be provided to both graduate and undergraduate students at TSU to gain research experience and community science training.Q3: At the site level, which urban tree species are better for heat-tolerant and/or cooling effects in the region?Team: Dafeng Hui, Yujuan Chen, and Andrew KoeserWe will conduct expert consultation, field studies, and modelingto address the question above:Step One: We will conduct a comprehensive and in-depth literature review to better understand existing knowledge and research gaps about heat-tolerant urban tree species as well as contributing traits to cooling effects. Metro Nashville just completed a street tree inventory. We will analyze the latest street tree inventory in the City (see Letter of Support), identify the top 10 street tree species that are currently growing in the City, and analyze their traits related to heat-tolerant and cooling effects. Then we will consult with experts (10-20 in total) in the field about heat-tolerant urban tree species in the region. In the end, a total of 5 tree species among those 10 tree species will be selected for field studies.Step Two: Based on the results from Step One, we will establish a Long-term Heat-tolerant Urban Tree Study (LHUTS) site at TSU's Agricultural Research and Education Center (AREC). An experiment will be installed with a randomized block experimental design including 3 blocks, 5 tree species, and 6 trees for each tree species within each block. Each of the five tree species will be randomly assigned to each block. There will be 90 trees in total. Site will be prepared and trees (5 gallons) will be planted in the spring of year 2. Then a set of sensors including ATMOS 41 (all-in-one weather station), TEROS 12 (measuring soil moisture, temperature, and electrical conductivity), and Kestrel DROP D2 Temperature, RH, Heat Index, Dew Point Data Loggers (measuring atmospheric temperature under tree canopy) will be installed to collect atmospheric temperature, soil temperature, moisture, and weather data. Furthermore, tree baseline data (e.g., diameter, height, tree canopy area) will be collected after experimental installation for all 90 trees. The diameter of the tree will be measured as diameter at breast height (DBH) using an optical caliper. The height of the tree will be measured using an altimeter. The tree canopy area will be calculated based on diameters in two perpendicular directions. The volume of the tree will be estimated based on DBH, height, and tree species. The measurements will be repeated at the end of year 2 and year 3 to calculate tree growth. Ecophysiological characteristics will also be measured for each tree species in the summers of year 2 and year 3. Leaf photosynthesis, transpiration, and water use efficiency will be measured using the LI-6800 Portable Photosynthesis System. Leaf area index (LAI) will be measured using a Plant Canopy Analyzer (LAI-2200). Additionally, the cooling benefit of those trees will be measured by Kestrel DROP D2 Temperature, RH, Heat Index, Dew Point Data Loggers under tree canopy and estimated using i-Tree tools. Data will be analyzed using proper statistical analyses such as an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and regression analysis.Step Three: Lastly, modeling and planting decision matrix will be performed based on the literature review and field studies from Step One and Step Two to make recommendations for future heat-tolerant urban trees in the region.