UFEI Publications

Publications

Kenny, R., Johns, J., Pawlak, C., Fricker, A., Yost, J., & Ritter, M. (2026). Urban trees and structure loss in the 2025 Eaton and Palisades fires. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 121, 129470. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2026.129470

Love, N. L. R., Althaus, K., Esperon-Rodriguez, M., Ossola, A., Johns, J., Pawlak, C., Igić, B., Ritter, M., & Yost, J. (2025). Genetic diversity in urban forests and their potential role in conserving the world’s threatened tree species. Annals of Botany, mcaf238. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf238

Rice, J. R., Fricker, G. A., & Ventura, J. (2025). An end-to-end deep learning solution for automated LiDAR tree detection in the urban environment. ISPRS Open Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 17, 100092. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophoto.2025.100092

Lynch, S. C., Reyes-Gonzalez, E., Bossard, E. L., Alarcon, K. S., Love, N. L. R., Hollander, A. D., Nobua-Behrmann, B. E., & Gilbert, G. S. (2025). A phylogenetic epidemiology approach to predicting the establishment of multi-host plant pests. Communications Biology, 8(1), 117. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-07540-y

Nicolle, D., Ritter, M. K., Jones, R. C., Phillips, G. P., French, M. E., Cumming, R., & Bell, S. A. J. (2025). The genus problem – Eucalyptus as a model system for minimising taxonomic disruption. TAXON, 74(3), 495–506. https://doi.org/10.1002/tax.13240

Thorne, J. H., Godfrey, J. M., Boynton, R. M., Shapiro, K. D., Stern, M. A., Pawlak, C., Ritter, M., & Choe, H. (2025). A spatial triage of at-risk conifer forests to support seed collection efforts and sustainable forestry. Journal of Environmental Management, 373, 123654. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.123654

Vannucci, P. F., Kianmehr, A., Pawlak, C. C., Faiola, C. L., Wilson, J. P., & Berelson, W. M. (2025). The role of urban forest composition in modulating summertime air quality in Los Angeles. Science of The Total Environment, 1003, 180715. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.180715

Rendon, P., Love, N., Pawlak, C., Yost, J., Ritter, M., & Doremus, J. (2024). Street tree diversity and urban heat. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 91, 128180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2023.128180

Ventura, J., Pawlak, C., Honsberger, M., Gonsalves, C., Rice, J., Love, N. L. R., Han, S., Nguyen, V., Sugano, K., Doremus, J., Fricker, G. A., Yost, J., & Ritter, M. (2024). Individual tree detection in large-scale urban environments using high-resolution multispectral imagery. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 130, 103848. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2024.103848

Pawlak, C. C., Love, N. L. R., Yost, J. M., Fricker, G. A., Doremus, J. M., & Ritter, M. K. (2023). California’s native trees and their use in the urban forest. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 89, 128125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2023.128125

Love, N. L. R., Nguyen, V., Pawlak, C., Pineda, A., Reimer, J. L., Yost, J. M., Fricker, G. A., Ventura, J. D., Doremus, J. M., Crow, T., & Ritter, M. K. (2022). Diversity and structure in California’s urban forest: What over six million data points tell us about one of the world’s largest urban forests. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 74, 127679. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2022.127679

Giacinto, J. J., Fricker, G. A., Ritter, M., Yost, J., & Doremus, J. (2021). Urban forest biodiversity and cardiovascular disease: Potential health benefits from California’s street trees. PLOS ONE, 16(11), e0254973. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254973

Yost, J. M., Wise, S. L., Love, N. L. R., Steane, D. A., Jones, R. C., Ritter, M. K., & Potts, B. M. (2021). Origins, Diversity and Naturalization of Eucalyptus globulus (Myrtaceae) in California. Forests, 12(8), 1129. https://doi.org/10.3390/f12081129

Johns, J. W., Yost, J. M., Nicolle, D., Igic, B., & Ritter, M. K. (2017). Worldwide hemisphere‐dependent lean in Cook pines. Ecology, 98(9), 2482–2484. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.1850

Ritter, M., & Yost, J. (2009). Diversity, Reproduction, and Potential for Invasiveness of Eucalyptus in California. Madroño, 56(3), 155–167. https://doi.org/10.3120/0024-9637-56.3.155

Datasets

Rice, J., Love, N., Han, S., Gonsalves, C., Ritter, M., Ventura, J., Yost, J., G. Andrew Fricker, Nguyen, V., Keilana Sugano, Doremus, J., Pawlak, C., & Honsberger, M. (2024). Results: Individual Tree Detection in Large-Scale Urban Environments using High-Resolution Multispectral Imagery. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/4S859

Baiza, J., Pawlak, C., Baehr, A., Yost, J., Ritter, M., & Fricker, A. (2023). Mapping Social and Environmental Justice Across California Schools (Version 4.0, pp. 9690541, 14707663, 115098, 17107, 20334978) [Text/tab-separated-values,text/tab-separated-values,text/csv,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet,application/zipped-shapefile]. Harvard Dataverse. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/7NNBJD

Rice, J. R., Fricker, G. A., & Ventura, J. (2025). An end-to-end deep learning solution for automated LiDAR tree detection in the urban environment. ISPRS Open Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 17, 100092. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophoto.2025.100092

Reports

Thompson, R. P., & Reimer, J. L. (2018). The State of Urban and Community Forestry in California: Status in 2016 and Trends since 1988 (No. 15). Urban Forest Ecosystems Institute, California Polytechnic State University and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. https://ufei.calpoly.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/SUF2016.pdf

Pillsbury, N. H., Bonner, L. E., Thompson, R. P., Mark, W. R., & Cuzick, R. D. (2004). Long-Term Growth, Sudden Oak Death Assessment and Economic Viability of Coast Live Oak in Three California Counties Volume I (No. 12). Urban Forest Ecosystems Institute, Natural Resources Department, California Polytechnic State University. https://ufei.calpoly.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/LongTermGrowthVol1.pdf

Pillsbury, N. H., Bonner, L. E., Thompson, R. P., Mark, W. R., & Cuzick, R. D. (2004). Long-Term Growth, Sudden Oak Death Assessment and Economic Viability of Coast Live Oak in Three California Counties Volume II (No. 12a). Urban Forest Ecosystems Institute, Natural Resources Department, California Polytechnic State University. https://ufei.calpoly.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/LongTermGrowthVol2.pdf

Dicus, C. A., & Delfino, K. (2003). A Comparison of California Forest Practice Rules and Two Forest Certification Systems. Urban Forest Ecosystems Institute, California Polytechnic State University. https://ufei.calpoly.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/CAFPC.pdf

Plumb, T. R., Wolf, M. M., & Shelly, J. (1999). California Urban Woody Green Waste Utilization (No. 8). Urban Forest Ecosystems Institute, California Polytechnic State University and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. https://ufei.calpoly.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Urabn-GreenWasteUtilization.pdf

Pillsbury, N. H., Reimer, Jeffrey L., & Thompson, R. P. (1998). Tree Volume Equations for Fifteen Urban Species in California (No. 7). Urban Forest Ecosystems Institute, California Polytechnic State University and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. https://ufei.calpoly.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/UrbanTreeEqns.pdf

Thompson, R. P., Pillsbury, N. H., & Hanna, R. (1994). The Elements of Sustainability in Urban Forestry. Urban Forest Ecosystems Institute, California Polytechnic State University and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. https://ufei.calpoly.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/ElementsofSustainability.pdf