Coastal Live Oak Size-Class Distribution - Planting for Sustainability

LA132-Computer Applications in Environmental Design Clients: Richard Trout & Janet Brewster

TIN showing the various features of UC-Berkeley's campus.  I add the different feature layers and extruded their heights for realism.

To begin an analysis on current tree distribution, I added the sampled spatial tree data to the data frame and extruded the heights of the trees (making the buildings transparent for readability):

From this stage I will be able to add the proposed Oak planting distribution with relation to the current campus

forest community.

I then went into Arcmap and added all appropopriate layers to begin the analysis.  This is the Priority 1 quadrant where the class sampled the existing tree distribution.  Shown here are the Priority 1 boundary, Strawberry Creek, campus buildings, pathways and drives, and turf areas, and the distribution of sampled tree species (each green dot represents a tree trunk that, when identified in ArcMap, shows all appropriate data relating to the specific tree):

To ascertain the planting location constraints of the site, I buffered areas of certain features on the ground.  This shows the pathways buffered to 4':

I knew that I wanted to stay 4' from existing oak and redwood tree trunks, so I buffered them as well:

Buildings also needed to be buffered by 12':

...as well as Strawberry Creek, which I buffered by 6' from the edge to account for wider areas that may not be represented accurately here:

All buffer zones were merged... ...and the turf areas (potential planting areas) were clipped by the priority quadrant boundary:

"Stripped down further", the potential planting areas are shown in green while "no-fly" zones are shown in orange:

Building a Healthy Variable Age Oak Distribution

To begin determining  where I would locate the 2002 oak plantings, I realized that, even though some existing oaks may have tree canopies of only 10-30' diameter at the time of each planting season, their crown size throughout their life spans could reach (what I believe) to be 50'.  Since existing redwoods are assumed to live throughout the duration of our 150 yr. planting regime, their canopies were also projected to be 50' in diameter during each planting phase.. *Locations of future plantings were determined by available sunlight.  (***please note: this is a simplification!  The oaks have been situated somewhat arbitrarily for purposes of reaching a 25% size-class distribution towards the end of the 140-yr. planting regime.  Other factors such as soil permeability and flood events were not taken into consideration...although they probably should

have been!)

2002 Planting Season:

Below is the distribution of all existing redwoods and oaks in Priority 1, as well as their potential crown diameters, present day.  The yellow dots represent the locations of oak plantings to take place in the 2002 planting season.  At this point in time, it is assumed that the life span of oaks in this region is 140 years, and therefore all oaks planted prior to 1862 are dead.

2037 Planting Season:

All trees planted before 1897 are presumed dead and gone, yielding potential planting locations.  The green circles represent the 2002 Redwoods, while the blue circles represent the full extent of crown size of all trees planted between 1897 and 2002.  The green dots represent the 2037 oak plantings:

2072 Planting Season:

All trees planted prior to 1932 are presumed dead and gone, and the 2072 oaks are planted in areas with ample light (shown in red).  The larger faded circles represent the full extent of crown size of all oaks planted between 1932 and 2037 (redwoods remain in green):

2107 Planting Season:

All oaks planted prior to 1965 are presumed dead and gone, while those planted 2002 - 2072 (brown circles) are shown to exihibit full crown potential to allow  ample room for the 2097 plantings (shown as blue points):

2152

All oaks planted 2002 and prior are gone and hopefully not forgotten, while those planted from 2037 to 2107 are still around.  Note the areas left open for future plantings.

2152

All oaks planted 2002 and prior are gone and hopefully not forgotten, while those planted from 2037 to 2107 are still around.  Note the areas left open for future plantings.

Prepared by Timothy M. Strand 12/5/02