Max Piana

Urban forested natural areas are an important component of the tree canopy in cities, but are often overlooked and typically lack formal management frameworks. One approach to addressing this deficiency may be to borrow from traditional forest management frameworks and practices (that is, silviculture). Although urban forested natural areas share similarities with rural forests, the impacts of urbanization on forest stand dynamics may require modification of these methods and in some cases development of novel silvicultural guidelines. In this talk, I will present an urban silviculture framework, the development of the Urban Silviculture Network, and examples of emerging applied-research.

Speaker Biography

Dr. Max Piana is a research ecologist at the USDA Forest Service, based in Amherst, MA. From street trees to urban forested natural areas, Max's research integrates concepts of restoration and plant ecology to inform management and planning in cities. He currently co-leads the Urban Phytotechnology Project in Philadelphia and the Urban Silviculture Network, which spans eight cities in the northeast U.S. Max is an alum of Yale (MEM, '11) and URI and received his PhD in Ecology & Evolution from Rutgers University, where he was land manager of the Hutcheson Memorial Forest Center.