Prospect Park is home to 30,000 trees of over 175 species which provide a variety of essential benefits to our community of plants, people and wildlife. Here at Prospect Park Alliance, we’re asking you to Be a Park Champion by celebrating Tree Appreciation Month!

Prospect Park Alliance’s Landscape Management team plants and maintains trees strategically to help Brooklyn’s last remaining forest thrive and partners with NYC Parks Forestry staff to  to sustain the health of the park and its trees. We chatted with the Alliance’s Forester, Mike Marino, for an inside look into 7 surprising facets of tree life in the park.

1. Slow and Steady Wins the Race

There is generally a correlation between how slow a tree grows and how long it lives. Trees that grow slowly are often the ones that live the longest and remain the strongest. If you spot an Oak tree over 40 inches or so in diameter, it’s likely to have been in the park for over a hundred years, and to have grown very slowly throughout its tenure in the park.

Fun fact: The London Plane trees by the Concert Grove Pavilion and the Lower Concert Grove were all planted at the time of the park’s creation about 150 years ago and are original to the design of the park. Oak and Beech trees are also two of the oldest native species found in Prospect Park, so keep an eye out for these strong and steady species throughout Brooklyn’s Backyard.

Marino alongside one of his favorite trees in the park: a centuries-old Willow Oak tree at the Peninsula off of Wellhouse Drive.

2. Trees Can Communicate

Through processes unseen by humans, trees can communicate and look out for one another. Trees release hormones through their leaves called volatile organic compounds, and nearby trees can sense and respond to these hormones. This can happen when one tree is infected with an invasive pest or other threat and through its leaves, sends a signal that something is wrong to another tree. The tree receiving this ‘warning’ can then protect itself by emitting a chemical in its bark that makes it less appetizing to a pest. This survival tactic means there is strength in numbers when it comes to trees– and environments like forests can help preserve species and protect trees.

3. Trees Could Not Exist Without Fungi

Visions of toadstools may be front-of-mind when you hear the word ‘fungi’, but small strands of fungi known as mycelium are essential to the health of all trees. These fungi strands perform a variety of important functions, including the decomposition of organic material to recycle nutrients back into the soil. With the help of mycelium, the tree’s roots are able to extend their reach and retrieve the nutrients and water they need to thrive. Through their roots and through fungi, trees can also send nutrients and minerals to other trees, sometimes even trees of different species, to help their fellow trees stay healthy.

A grove of young trees planted as part of Prospect Park Alliance’s Commemorative Tree Program.

4. The Older the Tree, the Greater the Benefits

From cleaning our air, removing toxins, providing wildlife habitats and more, we receive immense environmental benefits from trees. But the benefits of ten young trees do not measure up to the benefits provided by one 100 year old tree. We need mature trees to reap the full span of benefits to our health and environment. Mature trees give shade and cool down the air, they are able to absorb more water which mitigates flooding, and capture greater quantities of carbon dioxide and produce more essential oxygen for us to breathe.

These benefits of fully-grown trees make it all the more essential to be good stewards to both the long-standing trees of Prospect Park and the newly planted ones that will continue to grow, mature and benefit our community for centuries to come.

5. Trees Mist Us

Ever wonder how exactly parks stay so much cooler than city streets in sweltering summer heat? Trees are to thank for the wave of relief we feel from parks in the summer months. Through a process called evapotranspiration, mist gets spritzed out through tree leaves and into the air, keeping the air relatively cool compared to city streets.

Thanks to these trees, on hot summer days, the temperature inside the park can be as much as 10 degrees cooler than the surrounding concrete streets. A single tree can have the same effect as 5 medium air conditioners—with zero electricity used. In Prospect Park, a recent survey of 12,000 of the park’s trees found that our forest produced the equivalent of over $853,874 every year!

6. Forward-Thought is Key

Alliance Landscape Management staff work in collaboration with NYC Parks Forestry staff year round to prune, maintain and care for the park’s landscape and woodland areas to make sure trees in all stages of life are as healthy as possible to benefit our community for generations to come. By considering the way people use the park, the ecology, safety, and health of individual trees, the Alliance and NYC Parks Forestry teams use a multidimensional approach to keep the woodlands and landscape of the park healthy and thriving.

Prospect Park Alliance’s Landscape Management staff work to plant varying tree species that grow well together throughout the park to help strengthen the health and resilience of Brooklyn’s Backyard. If there’s one invasive pest or environmental stressor that attacks a certain type of tree, a diverse range of species makes it so that an entire forest isn’t wiped out in response to something unexpected in the environment. This is a way of having contingencies and back-ups to keep our forest and landscapes healthy.

“Even when we plant new trees, we’re looking 50 years down the road,” says Marino. “This tree will get bigger: How will it play with its neighboring trees and the uses of the park? What pruning will be needed to provide a strong foundation? We need to have forward-thought as we provide proactive work and care.” Marino emphasizes that this is also where stewardship comes in, “All of our daily interactions with the trees, no matter how small, accumulate and impact trees at all stages. Stress builds up in trees, just as it does in humans. And physically, if we damage a tree’s bark, it’s as if our organs were directly beneath our skin, with nothing to protect us from our environment.”

7. Every One Of Us Can Help Prospect Park’s Trees

To help our community reap the benefits of century-old trees and help young trees continue to thrive for future generations, remember to admire trees from afar and not to pick any leaves, flowers or bark that our ecosystem of people, plants, and animals need to stay healthy. Remember not to hang decorations or hammocks on trees to help keep the trees of Brooklyn’s Backyard green and thriving.

Marino also recommends getting involved and learning as much as possible about trees to help support our ecosystem. Resources to learn about the trees of Prospect Park and beyond range from participating in volunteer opportunities, visiting the TreeKeeper Database to explore the specific environmental benefits of each tree in Prospect Park, reading up on tree behavior in books (Marino recommends Peter Wohllleben’s The Hidden Life of Trees), or even taking classes and becoming a licensed street tree pruner with the Trees New York Citizen Pruner Course.

Learn more about how to Be a Park Champion and care for the trees, wildlife, and natural landscape of Prospect Park.

Ever wonder what happened to the American Chestnut? At the turn  of the 20th century, the American chestnut towered over other trees in Eastern  forests. The trees would grow as much as 100 feet high, and 13 feet wide. According to legend, a squirrel could scamper from New England to Georgia on the canopies of American chestnuts, never touching the ground.

And then, the trees began to disappear, succumbing to a mysterious fungus. The fungus first appeared in New York City in 1904—and  then it spread. By the 1950s, the fungus had wiped out billions of trees, and effectively finished off the American chestnut.

Now, some folks are trying to resurrect the American chestnut– including a longtime Prospect Park Alliance volunteer, Bart Chezar, who works closely with the Prospect Park Alliance’s Landscape Management Team.

Take a listen to WNYC’s Science Friday segment.

Learn more about Prospect Park Alliance’s work to sustain the environment.

Prospect Park Alliance recently completed a survey of more than half of Prospect Park’s 30,000 trees through $113,000 in Urban Forestry grants from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

The survey focused on the park’s landscaped trees and trees in wooded areas less than 25 feet from a path. This information provides a more nuanced picture of the park’s evolving ecosystem, as well as important insights into the economic, environmental and health benefits of this urban green space. The Alliance commissioned the survey, which was conducted by Davey Resource Group, to create a management plan to help track the park’s tree maintenance and planting needs in the coming years. 

Some top line results of the 15,698 trees surveyed in Prospect Park:

• The surveyed trees provide more than $2 million in annual environmental benefits. This includes:
  • Air quality: 21,000 pounds of pollutants removed from the air each year, valued at $132,000;
  • Greenhouse gas benefits: 3,000 tons removed from the air, valued at $17,000;
  • Energy benefits: equivalent to 1,300 megawatt hours saved, valued at close to $862,000;
  • Storm water runoff benefits: 22 million gallons saved from the city sewer system, valued at $181,000.
• 203 species of trees found in the park, including numerous varieties of native cherries, maples and oaks, as well as less common species included the Southern magnolia, a fragrant, flowering tree whose northern range is growing due to climate change, and the bald cypress, which typically grows in swampy conditions and sends up knobby root growths called “knees.”
• The largest tree surveyed has a diameter of 77 inches, or 6 feet, 5 inches across! This specimen tree, an American elm located near the Bandshell, is estimated to be over 100 years old.

Want to help sustain this vital community resource? One way to support this important work is through the Alliance’s Commemorative Tree Program. During planting seasons that take place each fall and spring, members of the community have the opportunity to plant a new tree in Prospect Park. Through this program, roughly 1,100 trees have been planted over the past 30 years. In addition, each year the Alliance plants a community tree on Arbor Day: learn more about how to get involved in this community celebration.

Want to learn more about Prospect Park’s trees? Check out the Prospect Park TreeKeeper Interactive Map to get info on each of the surveyed trees and their benefit to the community.

Prospect Park is an arboreal wonderland! Through a $75,000 Urban Forestry Grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Prospect Park Alliance recently surveyed roughly 12,000 of the park’s 30,000 trees as part of its work in caring for the Park’s natural areas.

The survey not only provides a more nuanced picture of the park’s evolving ecosystem, but important insights into the economic, environmental and health benefits of Brooklyn’s Backyard. Conducted by Davey Resource Group (DRG), a well-respected urban forestry consultancy that has worked extensively in New York City, you can examine the results on the Prospect Park TreeKeeper Interactive Map.

“The survey has provided exciting insight into what we already knew were some of the park’s most important treasures, its trees,” said Prospect Park Alliance President Sue Donoghue. “We are all aware of how special this urban green space is, but now with this data we can quantify the economic benefit our community receives from these trees. It clearly reinforces just how precious this resource is, and how we must all do our part to care for it.”

During the survey, arborists inventoried trees primarily in the landscaped areas of the park, a total of 12,414 trees. Among the findings:

• The surveyed trees provide more than $1.5 million in annual environmental benefits. This includes:

  • Air quality: 24,000 pounds of pollutants removed from the air each year, valued at $125,000;

  • Greenhouse gas benefits: 3,000 tons removed from the air, valued at $17,000;

  • Energy benefits: equivalent to 1,000 megawatt hours saved, valued at close to $700,000;

  • Storm water runoff benefits: 21 million gallons saved from the city sewer system, valued at $172,000.

• There is a plethora of trees to be found in the park, including the 84 genera and 193 species represented in this survey. This includes numerous varieties of native cherries, maples and oaks, representing 41% of the trees surveyed, as well as less common species included the Southern magnolia, a fragrant, flowering tree whose northern range is growing due to climate change, and the bald cypress, which typically grows in swampy conditions and sends up knobby root growths called “knees.”

• The largest tree surveyed has a diameter of 77 inches, or 6 feet, 5 inches across! This specimen tree, an American elm located near the Bandshell, is estimated to be over 100 years old.

• The inventory also identified challenges faced by the park’s trees. The overall condition of the inventoried tree population is rated fair, however, 8% of the inventoried trees had stress caused by humans.

• Emerald ash borer, an invasive beetle, was detected in the park’s ash tree population. And, though they have not been detected in Prospect Park, Gypsy moths and Asian Longhorn beetles pose the biggest threats to the health of the inventoried tree population.

• A tree survey metric, “replacement value,” describes the historical investment in trees over time. The surveyed park trees have an estimated replacement value of more than $59 million!

In completing this report, DRG put together a Prospect Park Tree Management Plan, charting out the tree maintenance and planting needs in the park for the next five years. “By tracking the park’s trees, the Alliance can better care for these important natural resources, which play a big role in Brooklyn’s quality of life,” said John Jordan, Director of Landscape Management at Prospect Park Alliance.

There is a long way to go for Prospect Park Alliance to keep this vital community resource healthy and safe. Contributions from community members help sustain the park’s trees and fund the Alliance’s team of arborists and natural resources crew.

One way to support this important work is through the Alliance’s Commemorative Giving Tree Program. During planting seasons that take place each fall and spring, members of the community have the opportunity to plant a new tree in Prospect Park. Through this program, roughly 1,100 trees have been planted over the past 30 years. Each year, the Alliance plants a community tree on Arbor Day: learn more about how to get involved in this community celebration.

Want to learn more about Prospect Park’s trees? Check out the Prospect Park TreeKeeper Interactive Map to get info on each of the surveyed trees and their benefit to the community.

On a recent spring morning, Prospect Park Alliance kicked off a survey of trees in Prospect Park as part of its work in caring for the Park’s natural areas. This project is funded through a $75,000 Urban Forestry Grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). 

As part of its mission to sustain, restore and advance Prospect Park, Prospect Park Alliance has been working to revitalize the Park’s natural areas over the past two decades, a more than 20-year, $15 million investment that has encompassed the planting of more than 500,000 trees, plants and shrubs. Alliance staff include trained arborists, horticulturalists, a forest ecologist and a Natural Resources Crew. The results of this investment can be seen in the transformation of these once-derelict areas into some of the Park’s most scenic destinations.

Over the past two years, through $1.2 million in grants from the National Parks Service through the Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Assistance Grant Program for Historic Properties, administered by New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the Alliance has been restoring the woodlands in two areas particularly devastated by Hurricane Sandy and other severe storms: the Vale of Cashmere in the northeast corner of the park, and Lookout Hill near the Nethermead and Peninsula (the Alliance lost 500 throughout the park due to Hurricane Sandy, with 50 alone in the Vale of Cashmere). This work was highlighted in a 2017 article in The New York Times, and brought to the park a crew of goats who helped clear the areas of invasive weeds in an environmentally friendly way. The work concludes this year with the planting of Lookout Hill.

The New York Times also highlighted the Alliance’s work to sustain the Park’s natural areas, announcing a partnership with the Natural Areas Conservancy to pilot a 25-year plan to enhance and protect New York City’s vital urban forests. The timing is ideal, since the Alliance is wrapping up its own 25-year plan to restore the woodlands, and these treasured natural areas are beset by new challenges, including climate change and the threat of invasive pests and diseases such as Emerald Ash Borer and Oak Wilt. This pilot program will enable the Alliance to share best practices with other parks citywide, and strengthen its expertise and knowledge base in woodlands restoration.

The Alliance’s work to restore the woodlands is also highlighted on the PBS program Metrofocus. View this video below:

With respect to the tree survey, a team of arborists from Davey Resource Group, a well-respected urban forestry consultant that has worked extensively in New York City, is collecting data on an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 trees in the Park, representing about half of the total tree population. The inventory will catalog the various attributes of Prospect Park’s trees—species, size and location to name a few. The survey will also include invasive insect, pest and disease detection to help the Alliance in its care of the Park’s trees, “the lungs” of Brooklyn. The inventory will focus on trees in the Park’s landscaped areas. The results of the inventory will help the Alliance, in partnership with the City, strategically maintain and enhance these trees to benefit generations to come.

“By tracking the Park’s trees, the Alliance can better care for these important natural resources, which play a big role in Brooklyn’s quality of life,” said John Jordan, director of Landscape Management at Prospect Park Alliance. “Trees cleanse the air we breathe; reduce the amount of stormwater runoff that reaches the city’s overburdened sewer system; provide shade that helps conserve energy by cooling buildings and paved surfaces; and even help people feel calmer and more quickly heal from sickness.”  

Love Prospect Park? Plant or adopt a tree to celebrate a special occasion or loved one.