Stability Recovery in London Plane Trees Eight Years After Primary Anchorage Failure

As the intensity and frequency of strong storms increase, the potential for damage to urban trees also increases. So far, the risk of ultimate failure for partially uprooted trees and how they may recover their stability is not well understood. This study sets out to explore if and to what extent trees can regain anchoring strength after their root systems have been overloaded. In 2010, ten London Plane (Platanus × acerifolia) trees were subjected to destructive winching tests. Two trees were pulled to the ground while eight were loaded until primary anchorage failure occurred and were left standing with inclined stems. In 2013, two trees had failed and six were re-tested nondestructively. By 2018, another tree had failed, and we tested the remaining five again. Rotational stiffness was derived for all trials and served as a nondestructive proxy for anchoring strength (R² = 0.91). After eight years, one tree had regained its original strength, while four had reached between 71 and 82% of their initial rotational stiffness. However, three trees failed during the observation period. The results indicate that partially uprooted trees may re-establish stability over time, but some will not and may fail. In our small data set, it was not possible to identify visual criteria that could provide a reliable indication of tree stability recovery, but our data support the assumption that nondestructive pulling tests can be successfully employed to determine good vigorous candidates for retention after partial uprooting.

When Green Infrastructure Turns Grey: Implications of Overdesign for Plant Water Stress

Overdesign is a common strategy used by green infrastructure (GI) designers to account for unexpected performance loss, but such a strategy can create undesirable plant responses if it decreases water availability. The seasonal and event-based stomatal conductance data of two woody plant species in a green infrastructure (GI) was analyzed. The GI is a tree trench composed of five tree pits (each one was planted with a tree) in an infiltration bed. Runoff collected from the street was supplied to the bottom of the infiltration bed, although the system never filled completely indicating there was capacity for more runoff than what was observed over 3 years and the infiltration bed was overdesigned. Between the two tree species, evidence suggested that the root system of London plane spread beyond the boundary of the GI system and reached a subsurface water source, while that of hybrid maple did not. London plane showed a slower response to water added in the tree pit soil, which can indicate the reduced dependence on GI soil water after plants have reached an alternative water source. Such reduction is not favored because it defeats the purpose of having plants in GI systems. Designs using root barriers, appropriate plant species selection, etc. are recommended to avoid unwanted root spread. This study also found that GI design relying on upward water movements should be avoided because such design creates a narrow capillary zone on top of a saturated zone, which does not encourage transpiration.

Spatial distribution and sampling of Corythucha ciliata (Hemiptera: Tingidae) in London plane trees

Taylor’s power law and Iwao’s patchiness regression were used to describe the dispersion patterns for overwintering and wandering stages of Corythucha ciliata on the London plane trees, Platanus x acerifolia (Ait.) Willd. Both Taylor’s and Iwao’s tests fit the distribution data for the overwintering stage. The overwintering adults were spatially aggregated. In the wandering stage, Taylor’s power law consistently fit the data, whereas the fit of Iwao’s patchiness regression was erratic. Both Iwao’s and Taylor’s indices indicated a clumped distribution pattern for eggs, nymphs, and wandering adults. Trunk was identified as the best sampling target for the overwintering stage whereas twig was the best for the wandering stage. In order to determine the sample size for evaluating whether the population has reached the control threshold, the sampling of 35 and 7 trunks for the overwintering stage and 32 and 8 twigs per tree for the wandering stage would provide 0.5- and 0.25-precision levels, respectively.