Surveys and Soirees: Documenting Tree Stewardship Across the Twin Cities
December 15, 2026
By Sally Donovan, PhD Candidate in the University of Minnesota Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, and the MSP LTER Urban Forests Team
For decades, scientists have studied how biodiversity influences resilience—the ability of an ecosystem to resist and recover from disturbances, such as drought and pest outbreaks. Yet forest resilience also relies on social variables, like the capacity of communities and governments to care for, or steward, them. This is particularly visible in urban forests where trees and vegetation are tightly packed against human-built infrastructure. In this piece, PhD candidate Sally Donovan shares her research mapping local stewardship networks to track their capacities to support resilient ecosystems.
