Study: Planting urban tree reduces utility bills

A case study on Sacramento, CA. The study's methods could be replicated easily in other parts of the world.

Perfect project for a high school student in Boston!

MIT's Competetive Edge Explorer for Boston Metro Area

An interesting look at demographics that allows the user to choose and manipulate the data inputs. Could be a very useful tool for urban planning, and for local NGOs to target the areas most in need of services.

It would be interesting to have an urban forest/green open space layer to this dataset.

New Urban Ecology Center opens in Indianapolis

Butler University opens its own Center for Urban Ecology. Much like UEI, it will focus on working with the community and producing research in this growing field.

Urban Coyotes popping up in more areas

Lots of articles on the migration of coyotes eastward from the west. These animals are highly adaptable to urban life and are being noticed in lots of places, including Pennsylvania and Maryland.

High school students take part in urban invertebrate study

High school students in Phoenix are taking part in urban invertebrate studies in partnership with ASU. The students will be able to submit their project to the Phoenix Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) program.

The students are using pitfall traps, used to catch crawling, terrestrial invertebrates. Read about how to make pitfall traps here and here.

Urban Plant Community study

Urban parks in different cities in the same region often have very different plant community assemblages, according to a Penn State study. The study inclided 10 parks in the northeastern U.S. Why are the findings important? They indicate that biodiversity can be maintained and/or encouraged in urban settings. What would happen to this trend of differing plant assemblages, though, if applied at a single city park system scale or with an increased sample size?

Acoustic Ecology

Just found a great site on the study of sound in the environment! Lots of information on birds!

URBAN FORESTRY LINKS

Urban Forest Ecosystems Institute
A great resource for West Coast urban forestry options from Cal Poly. Also has information for states all over the U.S.

The Greening of Detroit
Urban forestry and Urban Environmental Education in Detroit

APHIS Hot Issues
New pests and diseases!

UMass Extension Pest Fact Sheets
Keep up to date on urban pest outbreaks in New England, such as the winter moth and gypsy moth.

Emerald Ash Borer
It's making its way east and west - Watch out for it!

The Global Invasive Species Initiative
Great resource for invasive species - includes range and risk assessment maps.

Invasive Pest Risk Maps - Sirex
A threat to our pines and other conifers!

Urban Forestry - USDA

A Technical Guide to Urban and Community Forestry
Most Comprehensive online guide!

American Forests Urban Ecosystem Analysis Report
Measuring the value and coverage of urban trees in major U.S. cities. Much of the data is from the 1990s, but at least can serve as a baseline for continuing studies and actions.

Landscape Nursery and Urban Forestry - UMass Extension

USDA Forest Service - Plant Information
The go-to resource for basic information on plants native to the U.S.

USDA FS - Silvics Manual
Everything you've ever wanted to know about trees native to the U.S.

Urban Forestry Utilization
We remove urban trees due to old age, pests and wind storms. For what and how do we use them?