The Assisted Tree Range Expansion Project (ATREP): A Citizen Science Initiative Designed for Private and Community Forest Landowners in Northwest Lower Michigan

Abstract

The forests of Northwest lower Michigan are experiencing an increasing variety and level of ecological disturbance, exacerbated by the ongoing and impending effects of climate change. These forests occur within a predominately privately-owned landscape, making responsive and innovative forest regeneration practices difficult to actualize. Assisted range expansion (ARE) is one of many forest regeneration tools being employed in response to disturbances and climate change; however, it is understudied and rarely implemented within the State of Michigan. Here, a citizen science project is presented as a method for addressing this set of difficult circumstances and exploring the feasibility of ARE as a forest regeneration tool within a tri-county area in Northwest lower Michigan. The Assisted Tree Range Expansion Project (ATREP) leverages the unique position of a county-based Conservation District to conduct a community-based planting and monitoring program. ATREP is designed to increase the level of forest regeneration efforts on private and community lands while measuring the success of tree species whose ranges reach their northern limits in mid-Michigan but are predicted to thrive in northern Michigan under future climate models. The organizational structure and working components of the project, as well as the research and methods required for their development are outlined in the following report. A website (ATREP.net) was created to facilitate participant engagement and illustrate project outcomes overtime; it includes an overview of the rationale behind the project, a data collection instruction and submission area, an interactive map of all trees planted through the project, and a community forum that hosts relevant educational materials and discussion. Future directions for the project and expansion of this model beyond the initial tri-county area are also discussed. Additionally, an assessment of the perception of ARE among a subset of Michigan’s professional foresters is presented. This assessment was conducted in order to gauge the level of familiarity and willingness to implement ARE among Michigan’s Conservation District Foresters in particular. The results of the assessment demonstrated strong support for implementing assisted tree range expansion in Michigan.