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Urban Forest Social-Ecological Systems
Understanding trees, their planting environment, communities, & institutions

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Project Personnel

​LUFA Personnel: Jess Vogt, Jade Aponte

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Project Description

Urban forests are arguably understood best as social-ecological systems (SESs) of inseparable human and natural components. In several book chapters and a scholarly journal article in preparation, Jess Vogt synthesizes nearly a dozen prior frameworks used by scholars to understand SESs and urban forests separately into a comprehensive framework that was published in Arboriculture & Urban Forestry in November 2024.

A comprehensive framework of urban forests as social-ecological systems. See also Vogt (2020a) and Vogt (in prep.).

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Case Study: Belmont Cragin neighborhood street trees

 ENV student Jade Aponte studied the urban forest as a social-ecological system in her Chicago neighborhood of Belmont Cragin in 2023 and 2024. Jade's undergraduate BS thesis examined the condition of the street trees along a random 10% sample of the streets in her neighborhood, investigating the connections between tree condition (measured as crown dieback) and a variety of tree, surrounding environment, community, and management variables.

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Products, Presentations, & Publications

          Titles link to full-text (or ability to request) via ResearchGate.

Vogt J (2024) A comprehensive framework for understanding urban forests as social-ecological systems. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry, November 2024, 50(6) 427-469. https://doi.org/10.48044/jauf.2024.021

Aponte J. (2024) Understanding the urban forest of a Chicago neighborhood using a social-ecological approach. [Undergraduate bachelor's of science degree thesis, DePaul University]

Aponte S, Vogt J (2023) The urban forest of Belmont Cragin as a social-ecological system. DePaul University 21st Annual Undergraduate Research STEM Showcase, November 3, 2023 [Poster] 

Vogt J (2020b) Urban forests as social-ecological systems. Encyclopedia of the World’s Biomes. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.12405-4 [Book chapter]

Vogt J (2020a) Urban forests: Biophysical features and benefits. Encyclopedia of the World’s Biomes. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.12404-2 [Book chapter]

 Vogt J, Cortez C (2020) Urban social-ecological systems. Encyclopedia of the World’s Biomes. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.12458-3 [Book chapter]

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Grants & Funding Support

• Undergraduate Summer Research Program (USRP) grant (student: Jade Aponte; faculty advisor: Jess Vogt) to support the student’s B.S. thesis research, “The Urban Forest of Belmont Cragin as a Social-Ecological System” (College of Science and Health, DePaul University: $4308 [27 hrs/week for 10 weeks]). Summer 2023.
• University Research Council Research Leave Grant (faculty: Jess Vogt) to support 2 quarters of paid research leave to work on the “Understanding polycentric governance of Chicagoland urban forests” project (DePaul University: paid research leave granted for AQ23 & WQ24). 2023.