Expanding Urban Tree Species Diversity in Florida (USA): Challenges and Opportunities for Practitioners

Abstract

While many practitioners and scholars understand the risks associated with low urban tree diversity, they often lack the ability to rectify this challenge on their own. The complex system of tree production and procurement is shaped by market pressures, nursery and site constraints, local governance, and differing professional objectives among those who grow, specify, and plant trees. To understand constraints to and opportunities for increasing urban tree diversity, we conducted a series of focus groups comprised of nursery growers, landscape architects, and municipal tree managers. Our results highlight a significant list of considerations and constraints to diversity, with some issues shared among green industries and some specific to growers or purchasers. In light of our findings, we outline actionable strategies for increasing urban tree diversity.

Keywords:

• City trees
• landscape design
• nursery production
• urban greenspace
• urban forests

Acknowledgments

We thank Mr. Ben Bolusky and Dr. Taylor Clem for participant recruitment suggestions. We also thank Dr. Paul Monaghan for early feedback on study design. Finally, we thank the participants in this group for their willingness to share their experiences and opinions on this important green industry topic. The findings and conclusions in this publication are those of the authors and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or US Government determination or policy. An early version of this manuscript was published as part of a graduate thesis titled “Improving Urban Forest Species Diversity in Florida” (Hilbert 2021).

Ethical Approval

This study was approved by the University of Florida Institutional Review Board (IRB #IRB202100862).