Digital resources for conducting virtual street tree surveys with street-level photography

Abstract

Municipal forestry managers are often responsible for managing street trees, or trees planted in the public right-of-way along streets. Managers rely on street tree inventory data to facilitate tree maintenance activities and make informed planting decisions. Field inventories are costly so we have explored data quality associated with virtual surveys conducted using Google Street View, which offer potential savings of time and money. In general, virtual surveys of street trees can be conducted in less time than field surveys, virtual surveys can produce accurate data regarding tree counts and tree locations, and data quality is lower for more detailed information such as species identification and tree diameter.