Avenue Tree Health Assessment in a Tropical City-A Case Study from Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, Kerala, India

Abstract

Avenue trees in cities has become a serious safety issue reporting several tree accidents especially during monsoon time. A common urban condition is the felling of avenue trees for health and safety reasons or for widening of road as a part of traffic management. These situations may lead to the injudicious cutting of trees in urban areas. At the same time the trees with damage, rot or serious bend can be extremely hazardous. With proper tree health assessment and appropriate risk management trees could probably be saved from felling and also help in avoiding tree accidents. This work was designed to evaluate and assess tree health condition at Thiruvananthapuram Corporation and to recommend the appropriate action needed to be taken. A direct tree survey was conducted to determine the type and health condition of avenue trees at five different wards of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. Location of each trees surveyed were identified and field work was conducted. Tree locations were recorded using a GPS. A Tree health data sheet was used to record and analyse the status of trees. About 63 parameters were observed and recorded which include different conditions of the crown, physical damages to the root, trunk and branches; damages caused by disease and pest attack; mechanical damages and soil conditions. Of the 1276 trees assessed, 23 trees were found extremely disastrous which should be removed at the earliest, 32 trees were found to pose threats to public for which pruning is recommended, and 19 trees were found to be in the land slipping area which may also require additional interventions for management.