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Brendan Lavy, an assistant professor at TCU, brought students to monitor the economic and ecological impact of trees in the Fort Worth Botanic Garden’s South Woods. (Alberto Silva Fernandez | Fort Worth Report)
” data-medium-file=”https://fortworthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/BOTANIC_GARDENS-2.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://fortworthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/BOTANIC_GARDENS-2.jpg?fit=780%2C520&ssl=1″ tabindex=”0″ role=”button”>Under the canopy of trees at Fort Worth Botanic Garden’s South Woods urban forest, TCU students measured the ecological and economic impact of trees to cities. “The impetus behind (the class) was to get students out into the field,” said Brendan Lavy, an assistant professor of environmental and sustainability sciences. He wanted students to apply the concepts they learned in the classroom — environmental compliance, wastewater management and sustainability — and put them to the test in real-life situations that serve the public.“As they’re calculating those ecosystem services, they have to think about how do we communicate that to the public?” said Lavy.Every Friday, the TCU students took measurements — tree diameters and heights, dying twigs and satellite imagery analysis — and mapped out their findings across the 12 acres where they collected data from a range of trees, from big canopy pecan and ash to smaller trees such as red mulberry and cherry laurel.The Fort Worth Botanic Garden, pictured in July 2024, welcomed TCU students studying ecological and economic impacts of tree canopy. (Alberto Silva Fernandez | Fort Worth Report)“I had a little bit of experience because we were doing some of the same measurements with the trees on TCU’s campus,” said Zoey Suasnovar, a senior in environmental science. “We were looking at carbon storage and sequestration, oxygen production, pollution removal and replacement value.”And here’s what they found: The trees of the South Woods stored 490 tons of carbon, or basically the equivalent of taking 106 cars off the road per year, which helps with reducing the effects of climate change. The trees produced more than 35 tons of oxygen, about the weight of 4.5 Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaurs. Trees help avoid runoff of 176,000 gallons of water — imagine a pool with over 560,000 Stanley cups of water. They even came up with a price tag. The cost of replacing the entire South Woods? $3.42 million.Trees are essential, not just for beauty or recreation but for making cities more sustainable. In Fort Worth, trees don’t dominate the natural landscape since it’s mostly native prairie land. The canopy — the amount of tree cover in the city — is around 20%, said Lavy. Through its first urban forest master plan adopted earlier this year, city officials have set a goal of reaching 30% overall canopy cover by 2050.The botanic garden plans to use class findings to aid in its canopy management plan. What helps to maximize the benefits of trees is diversity in terms of species, ages, and types of structure, said Seth Hamby, director of living collections at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden.Seth Hamby, director of living collections at Fort Worth Botanic Garden, describes the different types of trees that are located at the Botanic Garden on July 26, 2024. (Alberto Silva Fernandez | Fort Worth Report)“It provides a habitat for a wider range of wildlife. But also, it makes the area as a whole more resilient to the sort of pressures like climate change or drought or disease,” Hamby said.Getting the students out in the forest helps them think about how different urban ecosystems support each other.“I like to think about trees, as they’re doing a lot of work for us,” said Lavy. “We can think of them as the city workers. They’re obviously not getting paid, right? But they’re doing these things.”Hamby recognizes all the hidden work that trees do. As someone who works with trees — and, perhaps, speaks for them — he likes to think they have value by their very existence.Shomial Ahmad is a higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report, in partnership with Open Campus. Contact her at shomial.ahmad@fortworthreport.org.At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.