January/February 2011: Canadian Geographic
New software reveals what urban trees do for our cities.
At a suburban house outside Toronto, armed with assorted gadgets for measuring trees, I politely ask the homeowner whether I can assess the vegetation in part of his backyard. “My tax dollars put to good use,” he says sarcastically.
I’m working on a project to evaluate the state of the urban forest throughout the Greater Toronto Area, I explain, but attempting to ease his skepticism is futile. Thankfully, as my partner and I follow aerial maps to chase down plots throughout Brampton, Ont., another team is roaming the streets of Toronto, collecting data from over 400 random samples.
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Fraser Los 