Selection in the city: the supply of trees to Baltimore’s urban forest

Abstract

Domestic selection creates the assemblages of organisms found in human-dominated environments, and urban forestry is a useful illustration of this process in action. In this study, we aim to understand how the process of domestic selection influences the nursery supply chain of trees to Baltimore, Maryland, USA. We interviewed actors in the supply chain to ask how they make decisions about which trees to grow, sell, select, and plant. We find tension between prioritizing diversity (at the species or genetic level) and other factors such as planting site conditions, esthetics, availability, demand, and production constraints. Reduction of genetic diversity within a species through the use of cultivars may counterintuitively be a path to increasing overall species diversity in nursery offerings. An in-depth approach to the supply of trees to one city allows for detailed analysis of variation within and across sectors, and tradeoffs experienced by actors along the supply chain.

Citation

Sonti, Nancy F.; Locke, Dexter H.; Burghardt, Karin T.; Avolio, Meghan L. 2026. Selection in the City: The Supply of Trees to Baltimore’s Urban Forest. Society & Natural Resources. 26 p. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2026.2711411.