Residential Forest Structure in Urban and Suburban Environments: Some Wildlife Implications in New England

Abstract

Tree populations were compared in residential areas of urban Springfield and suburban Amherst, Massachusetts. The urban environment contains significantly fewer tree species, lower total tree density, no large conifers, a narrower range of tree diameters, and a more park-like condition because the lower margins of tree crowns are positioned higher. Both environments are dominated by relatively few tree species, and contain many exotic species and many species native to the country or region but not occurring locally. The latter compose the majority of metropolitan trees. These differences in residential forest structure contribute to dramatic differences in the composition of breeding birds between the two environments.