RePlant Anne Arundel Resilient Tree Species
Replant Anne Arundel plants diverse stands of trees and shrubs native to the Chesapeake Bay region that will thrive in a changing environment. These resilient species are likely to withstand new pests and diseases and increasing rainfall and temperatures.
The roots of the list
The Resilient Tree Species list is the “menu” from which our Tree Troopers choose trees to plant for their projects. As the name implies, we want to ensure the Tree Troopers plant trees that will be around for the coming decades and thrive in a region with changing temperatures and precipitation.
The Resilient Tree Species list was based on the Maryland Forest Service’s Marylanders Plant Trees list, which was produced to encourage residents of Maryland to plant trees. WSA and partners expanded the list with additional trees, based on their professional experience, then processed the compilation through the USDA Forest Service’s Climate Change Atlas’s Modification Factors (MODFACs). MODFACs measures how a tree species responds to environmental disturbances, how its suitable habitat is changing, and how likely a tree species will migrate, based on those disturbances, to an available, suitable habitat.
After the initial list was processed through MODFACs, WSA sent it to regional forestry professionals, including foresters, horticulturalists, naturalists, and prominent landscape architects to vet and edit the list based on their experience. It was then circulated to plant suppliers within the local ecoregion to ensure the trees would be readily available for purchasing and planting in our county.