Inventory of Trees on Campus Takes Root on Interactive Urban Forest Website

Ever wonder what types of trees took root in the atrium of the Student Services Building? Or maybe the species of trees that provide shade and tranquility in the Aratani Japanese Garden? The answers to those questions and a deep reservoir of data points are just keystrokes away.
The Cal Poly Pomona Urban Forest website offers a comprehensive inventory of the trees on campus and displays the locations on an interactive map. Details in the map not only show the species of the tree, but also the estimated value, carbon storage and pollution removal ability of each tree.
The canopy of trees and the rolling, lush landscape are defining characteristics of Cal Poly Pomona. Not counting the groves of fruit trees on campus that are part of the agriculture program, here are some tree facts as of fall 2024:
- 266 unique species of trees.
- 7,757 trees on campus.
- Value of those trees is more than $40 million.
To keep campus trees healthy, Landscape Services conducts regular checks and maintenance. The department will contract out to West Coast Arborists, Inc., when larger issues arise, such as when unprecedented windstorms that reached nearly 100 mph hit in early January and uprooted several trees.
“The thousands of trees on campus require a lot of care and maintenance, whether it’s raking the leaves of the many species or trimming branches for beautification or that pose a hazard,” said Brian Lake, manager of Landscape Services. “But the work is worth the effort because trees provide benefits to the environment and enhance the campus atmosphere.”
The website also keeps track of other benefits of trees that include calculations on the amount of carbon storage, gross carbon sequestration and avoided soil runoff. Aside from the main campus, the interactive maps also take into account trees at I-Poly High School and Innovation Village, which houses the American Red Cross headquarters and three Southern California Edison buildings.
The maps provide a useful tool for students in majors ranging from landscape architecture to plant science to sustainability. The environmental benefits quantified on the urban forest website also should give the campus community a greater appreciation of the role of trees in the ecosystem.
The website is a collaborative effort between CPP and West Coast Arborists and uses a software suite called i-Tree Eco. The state-of-the-art software from the U.S. Forest Service is designed to quantify ecosystem benefits, values, and characteristics of a forest.