In 2020, about 200 volunteers helped plant trees at Crosby Farms Regional Park near the Mississippi River in St. Paul, Minnesota.
They helped launch a 20-year project to determine which tree species will grow well in the region as the climate warms and precipitation becomes more extreme.
Emma Vanhdy of the nonprofit Mississippi Park Connect coordinates volunteers for the program.
She said they planted more than 1,000 trees in 24 research plots. Some plots contain species that are already common in the area.
Vanhdy: “Mainly cottonwoods, silver maples…and some other native species.”
Other species include more common southern species such as sycamore and liquidambar.
Volunteers also help maintain the land and provide field observations.
Vanhdy: “They’re connected to a plot, so they know that plot very well.”
They monitor the health of trees, recording when trees bloom and lose leaves, and measure soil moisture and temperature.
These observations will help researchers determine which tree species grow best in the region as the climate warms, so landowners and forest managers can plant trees that are likely to thrive over the long term.
Report source: Sarah Kennedy/ChavoBart Digital Media
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