Search Results
This paper outlines the history of the SFA Arboretum's effort to establish a campus-as-arboretum at the university. In 1996, the participants created a robust Geographic Information System (GIS) for the campus forest based primarily on a 1993-95 campus mapping and tree inventory project in the 144-acre main core of the campus (Wilson to North St.; College to Starr). The project served as the MS thesis of Susan Perkins. In brief, the campus model reveals a pine-dominated Type 2 forest (one rapidly approaching maturity), difficult campus hydrology issues, and a landscape low on diversity with 68 species represented. In 1996, the Arboretum's AutoCAD® map and Excel® tree data files were integrated into the College of Forestry Unix-based ArcInfo® platform. This now provides full GIS capabilities for landscape planners. The resultant maps based on user queries reveal a robust vegetation analysis and management tool. In 1997, the SFA administration, Physical Plant, Grounds, College of Forestry, and SFA Arboretum initiated a “campus beautification” funding campaign. The SFA Arboretum will play a key role in building unique, documented, and mapped woody ornamental collections for the campus. This provides a unique opportunity in the South for long-term Zone 8 woody plant evaluation in a high-visibility and “perpetual” landscape.
Urban landscape ecology is a new interest that crosses several disciplines: botany, forestry, horticulture, sociology and land use planning. University forest environs are often the most degraded; foot traffic, development and a shortage of funds for significant tree plantings are main culprits. SFASU lies in the pineywoods region of east Texas and is known as the “university among the pines.” The campus is blessed with many patriarch pines and hardwoods. Computer-assisted drafting (CAP) and Geographic Information Systems(GIS) platforms are being utilized to map the campus vegetation. A 1992 vegetative analysis, when compared to similar studies in 1971 and 1983, indicates a loss in species diversity and frequency with little change in basal area. AutoCad*, LandCadd*, and Studio-3D* are being integrated into a multi-disciplinary project to develop a three-dimensional biotic/abiotic model of the campus. That model will be used as a “fly-through” visualization tool to develop forest conservation strategies most likely to succeed in a sustainable fashion.