#BLTrees: A Year in the Life (January)

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now for our January check-in with trees. It's month three in our year-long monthly project, once a month project to follow the life of a tree through the four seasons, looking at and looking about, learning about the trees around us, what they do for and to us, and what we do for and to them. New York City has at least a million trees. We hope you pick the one you want to follow and maybe even tweeted us a photo using the #BLtrees.

I've tweeted out November, December, and now January photos of the tree that I've chosen to follow. Today we're going to talk about some of the things that city trees do for us, that we might not be aware of beyond carbon capture and cleaning the air, which you probably know about, but make it us more sane and even more safe. Back with us is our guide for this adventure, urban ecologist, Marielle Anzelone, founder of New York City Wildflower Week who proposed this project and has offered her expertise in putting it together. Hello, again, Marielle.

Marielle Anzelone: Hi, Brian.

Brian Lehrer: Today, she's joined by psychologist, Ming Kuo, an associate professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences and the director of The Landscape and Human Health Laboratory at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Professor Kuo, welcome to WNYC. Hello from New York.

Ming Kuo: Hello, thank you for having me.

Brian Lehrer: Marielle, we invite folks to pick a tree, as you know, one outside your window in your backyard, down your block, in the nearby park, whatever that catches your attention as you make your way through the park or your neighborhood or on your block and get to know it. I don't know if you saw, I tweeted the latest photo of my tree yesterday, which I took after it snowed last week. I don't know, it looked pretty much the same as my tree did in December except with white snow on the bark. What am I missing?

Marielle Anzelone: You're not missing anything. There's not a whole lot that's going on in January and winter with trees. I really like the snow because it highlights the architecture of the tree and you get to see the tree in a different way. With deciduous trees, like the one you have, I think yours was a Callery Pear, so your tree lost all its leaves, but some trees don't and those are evergreens and some kinds of evergreens are called conifers and they have a different way to deal with leaf loss that winter, we talked last month, how winter is the time of water scarcity, but evergreens are able to photosynthesize in winter because they have water conservation strategies. They have really small typically needle-like leaves that have reduced surface area and waxy leaf coatings that help keep the water [unintelligible 00:03:15]. People can be out looking for conifers with all the leaves on the ground.

Brian Lehrer: That's a great suggestion. Folks, walk around and look for the evergreen trees in your midst and take a look at them. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692, if you want to call in and talk about the tree you're following or the evergreens in your neighborhood, as well as the deciduous trees that lose their leaves. 212-433-WNYC. Give us your January tree report, 212-433-9692. Professor Kuo, I can't wait to hear about your work as a psychologist, working with people and trees. You study the physical and psychological health benefits of our interactions, I guess you'd call them with trees and the natural world.

Ming Kuo: Right. I don't know if we'd call it interaction. It just means being around or in, both nature [unintelligible 00:04:19] large, and also urban forms of nature.

Brian Lehrer: Can you measure these health benefits?

Ming Kuo: Oh, we can. We see much lower rates of, I think 16 major categories of disease wherever people have more access to greenery around their homes. That's after taking into account what income the people have. Everything from cardiovascular disease, depression, diabetes, ADHD. In fact, I might challenge your listeners to call in with a disease that's not tied to see if it's not tied to trees because pretty much everything we've looked at, except for allergies, are complicated, are tied to lower rates of disease, are tied to more trees. We can even trace the causal change. For instance, with diabetes, if you take people on walks in the forest, immediately afterwards, you can measure their blood sugar and their blood chemistry.

If you had high blood sugar going in, then you have normalized, close to normal, or actually normal blood sugar coming out and you also have higher levels of certain blood chemicals that are actually fighting or preventing diabetes. If anyone cares, they're called adaptogens and DHEA. We can see the actual molecular reason for the improvements in diabetes rates. We can even see, if you take people on monthly forest walks, it improves their blood chemistry to the point where they're almost no longer diabetic, they're right at the threshold for qualifying as diabetic.

Brian Lehrer: Not just from walking in the woods once a month.

Ming Kuo: Yes. That sounds crazy, doesn't it?

Brian Lehrer: It does.

Ming Kuo: Maybe it's the exercise. It turns out that half an hour walk in the forest reduces your blood sugar more than- what is it, multiple hours on a stationary bike. It's not the exercise.

Brian Lehrer: I don't know if it's relevant or not, but we know that our new mayor, Eric Adams, has talked extensively about how he tackled his diabetes through a plant-based diet. There's at least a relationship there to plant. Listeners, take professor quote's challenge and call us in and describe some of the health benefits that you have perceived, that you feel you have experienced, that you have experienced from being around trees, 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692, or report on your tree in January. Josh in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Josh.

Josh: Thanks, Brian. Hey. My tree is a magnificent, gigantic elm in the backyard of my rental apartment. Its circumference has got to be at least 12 feet around and what's been revealed in the winter once the leaves cleared away, is it high up on a major branch of the tree, there's a fungal growth, one of those pale off-white elephant ear kind of things sticking out from my tree and winter's made me wonder if I should be concerned what's going on there.

Brian Lehrer: Marielle, can you answer that question?

Marielle Anzelone: Yes. Since it's so large, it sounds like it's a bracket fungus, which are really big and sometimes they show up when the tree is diseased. There could be some issues with the tree. It would be good if you're really concerned to see if you can get your landlord to get an arborist to check it out. Also, trees can have different diseases with different fungi on them. It's not always a cause of structural degradation in the tree. It's not necessarily something to worry about.

Brian Lehrer: Carly in Hillsboro has noticed something about her tree this month. Hi, Carly, you're on WNYC.

Carly: Hello. I have been watching one of my Oak trees. This year, it had absolutely no acorns and it always has lots of acorns some years more than others, which I write off to differences in the growing season. Most years, I can't even walk under it because it has so many acorns and this year there were absolutely none.

Brian Lehrer: Does that fit any pattern you know, Marielle?

Marielle Anzelone: It does. Oaks are one of those trees that have these delicious fruits, the acorns that animals really like to eat. There are small mammals that predate the acorns. The trees have a strategy to deal with that where they have years of feast or famine. The feast years are called mass years and they just have tons and tons of acorns. Then in some years, they have very few or none. It's to throw the seed predators off the cycle of feeding off the acorns. It's a strategy that some trees have to deal with having some seeds leftover to grow new trees. That might be what's going on here.

Brian Lehrer: Here's somebody calling with a health story relevant to trees. Lilly in the Bronx. Lilly, you're on WNYC. Hi, there.

Lilly: Hey, I was just calling because I walk in [unintelligible 00:10:27] park a lot and I make sure that I do several times a week because walking amongst the trees, even in the winter, I've noticed when I started doing this and I started doing it more during the pandemic, that I was just better, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. I don't know what it is about just walking in a location where there's just a lot of trees that it just makes me-- It just went overall. I feel its positive effects and I can't really put it into sports because I don't understand, but I see the difference in my body, my mind, my emotions.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you so much. Professor Kuo, was that related to this practice that maybe you're familiar with, that I understand comes from Japan of what they call forest bathing, which doesn't have to do with bathing, but more closely observing and just spending time with trees.

Ming Kuo: Right. The bathing part of it just refers to going into the forest and letting it wash over you, I guess.

Brian Lehrer: Yes.

Ming Kuo: Immersing yourself. Actually, scientists have been in Japan and here have been studying what are the effects of showing people or taking people through forested walks and we can see one of the fastest ways to help someone relax after you've upset them, which we've done experimentally, is to show them nature images. We can watch blood pressure go down. We can watch heart rate go down. We can watch various stress hormones, the levels of stress hormones change very rapidly and stupidly.

Brian Lehrer: Does any of that have to do with slowing down to tree time? Many trees live much longer than we do. Our home metabolism slows down when we're among the trees who grow more slowly.

Ming Kuo: I would say that there is definitely a benefit to being in a not human-centered place, reminded that not everything revolves around your to-do list and your concerns.

Brian Lehrer: Diana in Tribeca is going to remind us that Sunday night begins a holiday. That's about trees. Diana, you're on WNYC. Hi.

Diana: Oh, hello, Brian. Yes, it's Tu BiShvat, the 15th day of the month of Shevat which is a holiday or [unintelligible 00:13:02] day created by the Rabbis to enforce or to pay respect for the Jewish law, which requires that for the first three years of a tree's life, one cannot eat its fruit or its plants or anything like that. On the fourth year, it is given to the priests in the acknowledgment of their role, and on the fifth year, the farmer can actually use the fruit of the tree.

It was determined that in order to understand the actual age of the tree, there should be one particular date on which that is done. That is the 15th day of Shevat and that the importance of trees, obviously, for their fruit is acknowledged and respected, but it is so important that even in times of war, one is never supposed to destroy a tree. Trees are something which are absolutely in its almost sacred in Jewish tradition, and it's wonderful to hear how other people now are being involved with this incredible tribute to trees.

Brian Lehrer: Diana, what a wonderful description of the Jewish holiday of Tu BiShvat, coming Sunday night into Monday. Marielle, you want to finish up by telling people about some, #BLtrees. Listeners, that's how you can submit photos of your chosen tree, #BLTrees on Twitter, and everybody else can see your tree through the months. This is month three of this once a month, 12 month series., as we follow our trees through the course of one year, Marielle, you've got some #BLTrees inspired walks?

Marielle Anzelone: Yes. We're doing some tree tours in New York City. People have been really excited about trees and wanted to know more, and we thought, "Well, let's get them all together and we'll go talk about trees." We're doing two this month. One is going to be in Manhattan and Washington Square Park. The other is going to be in Queens and Alley Pond Park. It'll be an urban park and a forested area. If people want more information, they can visit the NewYorkCityWildflowerWeek.org website with details in to register.

Brian Lehrer: Marielle Anzelone, urban botanist and ecologist, and the founder of New York City Wildflower Week, thank you as always, talk to you next month.

Marielle Anzelone: Thank you.

Brian Lehrer: Psychologist Ming Kuo, professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences and director of The Landscape and Human Health Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Professor Kuo, thank you so much for joining us. That was fascinating.

Ming Kuo: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC.

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