Tacoma Community Science

Project 1 - Urban Heat and Tree Health

Help study the impacts of urban heat on tree health

Get Involved Method 2 - Are these streets vulnerable?

Visit the blocks marked in the below map, then add street trees to below iNaturalist project.

Community scientists are encouraged to survey the entire street, but we aim to measure all of these randomly selected blocks to ensure we cover all parts of Tacoma.

Add Observations of these trees to the ‘Tacoma Street Tree Vulnerability Study’

Steps to contribute

Create an iNaturalist account/login
Join this project
Visit one of the streets in the google map
Upload an observation
Tag this project in the observation settings
Answer the project questions
Share the observation!

Field Manual

Download the Manual

Webpage Embedded Below

Please Note We are only mapping and counting trees directly along the street in the public 'right of way'.

Helpful links from City of Tacoma

Sooty Bark Disease

Tree Disease

Sooty Bark Disease weakens and kills trees. The tree disease has been found in many areas of the Pacific Northwest.

Fungus

Sooty Bark Disease is caused by the fungus Cryptostroma corticale. This fungal species grows inside the tree and releases spores after causing the outer bark to flake off.

Susceptible Trees

Your help is needed to determine what trees are susceptible to this disease. So far, research has found the fungus on the following species:

Horse Chestnut
Bigleaf Maple
Sycamore Maple
Norway Maple
Pacific Dogwood

All of these species are commonly planted throughout Tacoma.

Worsened by Climate Change

The disease is likely emerging as an issue now because of recent longer and hotter droughts.

More Information

Learn more about Sooty Bark Disease at the following webpages:

“The impacts of this disease on our forests and communities are likely to get worse as summer droughts become longer and hotter in the Pacific Northwest”