Climate-Ready Trees: Planting Smarter for a Warmer (and hopefully shadier) Future
Southwest Yard & Garden by Dr. Marisa Thompson
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Stacked
bigtooth maple leaves in the Manzano Mountains this October. While native to
New Mexico, bigtooth maple trees tend to thrive in cooler temperatures and
higher elevations. Photo credit M. Thompson. |
Question: I am updating the Valencia County Extension Master
Gardener brochure on trees. How do I access the new recommended trees for
climate change? I would like to include them in the brochure.
- Zena K., Los Lunas
Answer: The final report, titled “Climate-Ready
Trees: Tree Species Selection Guidelines for the Albuquerque Metro Area,”
has just been released and is accessible online at https://www.nature.org/newmexicotrees (or click on direct links below).
There you can read about this great project and others led by Sarah Hurteau, the
Climate Program Director for the Nature Conservancy in New Mexico.
Hurteau was inspired by a similar project performed by researchers at the USDA
Forest Service and University of California-Davis and published in 2018. With
funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Wells Fargo, Nusenda
Foundation, Avalon Trust, Enterprise Bank & Trust, and other private
donors, Hurteau and her team invited local tree experts to assess over 130 tree
species for their long-term viability in the Albuquerque area. Over the next 30
years, high temperatures in the Albuquerque area are expected to resemble the
current high temperatures in Las Cruces or El Paso, and in 80 years, by 2100,
closer to the highs currently experienced in Tucson.
For a shorter version of the report, including the tree lists, visit https://www.nature.org/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/documents/Climate-Ready-Trees-Location-Lists-Nov2020.pdf. Pages 5-6 are all about xeriscaped areas with ample rooting space. See pages 9-12 for restricted growing areas (like medians and hell-strips!).
I selected the following excerpts
from the 46-page Climate-Ready Trees report. Please note that even though the
report focuses on trees recommended for the Albuquerque area specifically, the
broader concepts can and should be applied to Farmington, Raton, Clovis,
Carlsbad, Lordsburg, and everywhere in between.
“Albuquerque is facing increasingly extreme climatic events,
compounded by the city’s urban heat island effect. As a large metropolis in an
already arid environment, Albuquerque urgently needs creative strategies to
mitigate and adapt to climate change.
“Urban trees are a cost-effective,
nature-based solution to mitigating climate change and improving the livability
in cities and towns. Albuquerque’s estimated 1.5 million urban trees are
quietly benefitting human and wildlife inhabitants, providing air and water
pollution removal, carbon sequestration, carbon storage, building energy
savings, heat mitigation, reducing stormwater runoff, and improving physical
and physiological health and wellbeing for residents.
“Yet, the tree canopy in
Albuquerque is rapidly declining. Poor tree species and planting site
selection, limited capacity for proper tree care, weak policies to protect
mature trees, and tree canopy age are major factors in the decline. Climate
change is amplifying the urban heat island effects with increasing temperatures
and altered precipitation patterns, which will greatly affect Albuquerque’s
urban trees. Tree species that
practitioners have been planting for years are no longer viable options. Sun
scorch, drought stress, new pests, disease, and other tree health problems are
increasingly prevalent.
“The last major tree planting
campaign in New Mexico took place nearly a century ago. Many of the largest
shade trees in Albuquerque today are the Siberian elms (Ulmus pumila,
now considered an invasive species) planted during that campaign that alone
account for 25% of Albuquerque’s canopy cover. Roughly 60% of Albuquerque’s
trees are younger or smaller stature trees with a trunk diameter of six inches
or less that contribute limited shade. Albuquerque
faces a crisis where a majority of the shade-producing tree canopy could be
lost over the next decade. [Again, this crisis is not unique to
Albuquerque. Urban trees are failing across the state and globally.]
“The Nature Conservancy is part of
a concerted effort in Albuquerque to reverse the tree canopy decline by
supporting thoughtful tree plantings resilient for the century to come. An
alliance of public agencies and non-profit organizations is addressing the tree
stewardship and climate challenges. Each organization brings a unique area of
expertise and influence that is necessary for a holistic and robust approach to
meeting the needs of both the community and the community forest. The alliance’s efforts have built a strong
foundation that has empowered the City of Albuquerque’s Mayor Keller to adopt a
goal to plant 100,000 trees by 2030, one tree for every child in Albuquerque.
The Nature Conservancy’s role in this effort has been to convene stakeholders
and find science-based solutions that use data and analysis to inform projects
and ensure long-term success…
“The purpose of the Climate-Ready Trees for Albuquerque project
was to develop a list of urban adapted tree species that can survive both
current conditions and the climatic challenges over the next century…
This report is intended to serve as a guideline to increase the tree species
diversity and resiliency of Albuquerque’s community forest. Outcomes of this
project and report:
• Provide the first step in making the Albuquerque community forest
more resilient to climate change, more specifically increasing temperatures and
decreasing precipitation.
• Provide a resource for use in tree selection and site selection.
• Highlight the variety of trees available to help diversify our
future community forest.
• Encourage nursery industry partners to start planning for future
tree needs of their customers and introduce new species into the propagation
pipeline.
• Inspire more people to plant trees and engage in The Nature
Conservancy’s tree awareness and tree planting campaigns.
• Continue to foster community stewardship of trees and guide
people to plant the right tree in the right place at the right time.”
In addition to cold and heat
tolerance, the team rated trees on their tolerance to different soil textures,
drought, and other important characteristics, like pest and disease
susceptibility, allergen issues, wildlife habitat, and more. The final report
includes several lists of recommended trees for site-specific locations. For
example, there’s a list for “Xeriscaped Public Recreation, Residential, or
Commercial Places” and a separate list for “Restricted Growing Areas,” like 4-
to 6-foot-wide medians.
Several people from other parts of
the state have already asked me how they can use this resource to select trees
for their areas. As you scan the lists, you’ll likely see at least a few trees
that are currently thriving in your area. If you’re in Las Cruces, you’ll
recognize Chinese pistache, crape myrtle, Texas mountain laurel, chaste tree, and
honey mesquite, just to name a few. Cross check the ones you’re interested in
with the species on publicly available tree lists for the Tucson and Yuma areas
to be sure they’re going to be heat hardy in the warmer decades to come.
EXTRA "TREESOURCES"
https://www.ose.state.nm.us/WUC/LearningXeriscape/XeriscapeGuide_ScreenResolution.pdf Office of the State Engineer
https://www.slideshare.net/Eric851q/w4c147
Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority Xeriscaping resource
https://www.nps.gov/cham/learn/nature/upload/native_plants_6_30_09.pdf
National Parks Service Chihuahuan Desert Native Plants
https://www.npsnm.org/ Native Plant Society
of New Mexico website
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Send gardening questions to Southwest Yard and Garden - Attn:
Dr. Marisa Thompson at desertblooms@nmsu.edu, or at
the NM Desert Blooms
Facebook page (@NMDesertBlooms)
Please
copy your County
Extension Agent and
indicate your county of residence when you submit your question!
For more gardening information, visit
the NMSU Extension Horticulture page at Desert Blooms and the NMSU Horticulture
Publications page at http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/.
Marisa Y. Thompson, Ph.D., is the Extension
Horticulture Specialist in the Department of Extension Plant Sciences at the
New Mexico State University Los Lunas Agricultural Science Center.
Edible New Mexico Magazine article crosslink -- GROWING YOUR FUTURE FAVORITE TREE
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