Healthy Trees, Healthy Cities: Tree Health Monitoring Tools Manual

Tool

United States

Publication date: September 27, 2019

File format: PDF

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The Healthy Trees, Healthy Cities Tree Health Monitoring Tools Manual explains how to monitor urban tree health, identify signs of stress, detect pests and diseases, record stewardship activities, and manage projects using the HTHC mobile app and dashboard. Designed for researchers, managers, volunteers, and community groups.

Subject Tags

  • Forests

Overview

The Healthy Trees, Healthy Cities (HTHC) Tree Health Monitoring Tools Manual provides comprehensive guidance for monitoring, assessing, and managing urban tree health. Developed through a partnership between The Nature Conservancy and the USDA Forest Service, the manual explains how researchers, city managers, volunteers, and citizen scientists can use HTHC tools to evaluate tree condition, detect signs of pests and diseases, document stewardship activities, and improve urban forest management. The guide details HTHC health assessment methods, including visual indicators of stress, crown condition measurements, and the Stress Index used to compare tree health across species. It also covers pest detection protocols, tree inventories, project management workflows, and data collection through the HTHC Mobile App and Web Dashboard. The manual supports community based tree stewardship, urban forestry research, and data driven decision making to help protect and sustain healthy urban tree canopies.