MWISA CEU Webinar: Trees and Natural Disasters - Managing for Future Adversity

July 15, 2025 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM (CDT)

Description

Session Title: Trees and Natural Disasters - Managing for Future Adversity 

Course Description: Large portions of our urban forests are planted and have been designed to fit the spaces that remain following development. Unfortunately, much of the time the growth and long-term survival of these trees are an afterthought. Urban trees can offer a variety of benefits including reducing the urban heat island effect, filtering toxic air pollutants, beautifying the urban landscape, intercepting stormwater runoff, and providing wildlife habitat. Conversely, trees in densely populated areas have the potential to pose significant risks to both people and property. Therefore, it is important to find an equilibrium that maximizes tree related benefits and minimizes the associated risk. The complexities of the situation are further complicated as we look to the impact of natural disaster on our urban trees. We are expected to see an increase in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters (i.e., drought, fires, extreme wind events, and pest outbreaks) across the globe. Additionally, average annual extreme minimum temperature will continue to increase and as a result, hardiness zones will shift further to the North and West. Future research needs to address the resiliency of our urban forests in the face of extreme weather as the result of natural disasters. The research presented throughout the talk explores the potential challenges that we face if current predictions hold true as well as some of the opportunities that we have to design more sustainable and resilient urban forests. Although there is a fair amount of research that investigates the impacts of hurricanes, fires, drought, etc., we are still lacking a firm understanding of how different species perform across extreme weather events of varying frequencies and intensities. Such insight has the potential to provide industry professionals with additional opportunities to increase canopy cover while ensuring that urban trees are better suited to withstand future disasters. 

Speaker Bio: Dr. Ryan Klein is an Assistant Professor of Arboriculture at the University of Florida. He has 12 years of experience in the nursery and tree care industry as well as almost 10 years of experience conducting arboricultural research. Ryan has received his International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Arborist Certification, Quantified Tree Risk Assessment (QTRA) Certification, ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualification (TRAQ), and Prescription Pruning Qualification (PPQ). Ryan sits on the Florida Chapter of the ISA's Education, Credentialing, and Student and Early Career Arborist Committee's as well as Board of Directors. His research focuses on tree risk assessment, arboricultural BMPs, and the impacts of natural disasters on urban tree populations.

Location

Virtual via Zoom