Participatory Scientists Contribute to Climate-Ready Woodland Research

September 04, 2025
Map of Minnesota with dots showing trees tracked by citizen scientists.
Data from the Tree Tracker participatory science research project collected in 2024. The map shows that participatory scientists were able to document 31 of 56 species  included on UMN Extension's lists of Climate-Ready Woodlands Near-Native Trees are already living in Minnesota. Image: Courtesy of UMN Extension Forestry. 

In fall 2023, Extension Forestry Educators released a series of lists of Climate-Ready Woodlands Near-Native Trees to help Minnesotans navigate the impact of climate change on native tree survival and overall forest health. "As Minnesota’s climate changes, forests will face pressures from tree diseases and pests, heavier and more frequent rainfalls, warmer temperatures and prolonged drought," Extension’s Climate-Ready Woodlands web page reads. "You can foster a healthy, resilient woodland by adding species predicted to adapt well to these changes."

Yet in the spring of 2024, Extension heard clearly from woodland stewards and natural resource professionals that they were worried about the Climate-Ready Woodlands lists. Would those trees survive? Would they become invasive? By mid-April 2024, Extension Foresters, in collaboration with Alicia Coleman, assistant professor of urban and community forestry in the Department of Forest Resources, launched two participatory science initiatives to answer these questions. The response was incredible. 

Tree Trackers, one of the projects asked Minnesotans via Instagram to use the free smartphone app iNaturalist to learn about near-native trees already living in the state. Over 1,200 observers tracked 4000+ trees representing 31 of the 56 target species. This vastly increased the presence and survivability information about these new-to-area species. 

With the Tree Steward Journal, a parallel project, 10 volunteers wrote narrative journals about their stewardship of near-native trees. These volunteers offered stewardship insight on 35 different species and 1136 total trees. No issues of invasiveness were reported but volunteers are concerned about deer, drought, wind, and disease. 

The University's research and Extension Forestry team will continue to collect, analyze, and report data gathered through this highly engaged participatory science project. 

This work developed a close collaboration with UMN’s Urban Forestry Outreach and Research (UFOR) lab and is supported by Minnesota’s Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.

~Text by Angela Gupta, Forestry Extension Professor and Educator.