Boomer Forest
Today’s urban trees are rooted in the 1960s Me Generation
Are today’s urban forests another legacy of the Baby Boom generation? A new study of vegetation cover in neighborhoods near Baltimore, Maryland suggests that the wealth and education levels of residents 50 years ago helps explain how many trees we see today. The finding could have implications for current efforts to conserve and restore urban forests in Baltimore, New York and other cities.
Researchers have long recognized that wealthy, less-dense neighborhoods often have more trees, shrubs and green space. Some studies, however, have also found that factors such as ethnicity, the age of housing and cultural practices can influence whether a neighborhood becomes leafy or bare. The Gwynns Falls Watershed northwest of Baltimore is an urban-suburban landscape that has a bit of both. To find out how it got that way, a team led by Christopher G. Boone of Arizona State University in Tempe compared detailed socio-economic snapshots of the area from 1960 and 2000 with forest cover patterns in 1999. The vegetation maps came from aerial photos, while the socio-economic maps were drawn using marketing tools that divide populations into “lifestyle clusters,” including wealthy “Blue Bloods,” moderate-income “High-school Achievers,” and older “Empty Nesters.”
The bottom line, the authors write in the current issue of Urban Ecology, is that “when it comes to understanding present tree canopy patterns in the Gwynns Falls Watershed, the 1960s matter.” In particular, new Baby Boomer neighborhoods that 50 years ago had a high percentage of professionals and a low percentage of houses built before World War II “are now the leafiest neighborhoods in the watershed… The landscapes we see today are therefore legacies of past consumption patterns.” In contrast, the lifestyle marketing data from 2000 was better at predicting where big lawns – and not trees – were found. That relationship may reflect changing aesthetic and gardening tastes, the authors say.
The findings could have practical lessons for cities trying to revitalize urban ecosystems. Socio-economic snapshots, for instance, might help predict which neighborhoods are likely to be enthusiastic about supporting new tree planting efforts, and which might just let the saplings wither. – David Malakoff
Source: Boone, C., Cadenasso, M., Grove, J., Schwarz, K., & Buckley, G. (2009). Landscape, vegetation characteristics, and group identity in an urban and suburban watershed: why the 60s matter. Urban Ecosystems, DOI: 10.1007/s11252-009-0118-7
Image © Dennis Oblander/IStockphoto
