A dataset of 5 million city trees from 63 US cities: species, location, nativity status, health, and more.

Sustainable cities depend on urban forests. City trees -- a pillar of
urban forests -- improve our health, clean the air, store CO2, and cool
local temperatures. Comparatively less is known about urban forests as
ecosystems, particularly their spatial composition, nativity statuses,
biodiversity, and tree health. Here, we assembled and standardized a new
dataset of N=5,660,237 trees from 63 of the largest US cities. The data
comes from tree inventories conducted at the level of cities and/or
neighborhoods. Each data sheet includes detailed information on tree
location, species, nativity status (whether a tree species is naturally
occurring or introduced), health, size, whether it is in a park or urban
area, and more (comprising 28 standardized columns per datasheet). This
dataset could be analyzed in combination with citizen-science datasets on
bird, insect, or plant biodiversity; social and demographic data; or data
on the physical environment. Urban forests offer a rare opportunity to
intentionally design biodiverse, heterogenous, rich ecosystems.