CitiStat Buffalo
Bureau of Forestry
Explore the City of Buffalo Bureau of Forestry's tree inventory by hovering over the interactive visualizations below. To learn more about opportunities to participate in Buffalo's tree stewardship and planting programs, check out ReTree and the CommuniTREE Stewardship Project. For even more context about Buffalo's catalog of trees, check out My TreeKeeper Buffalo, an interactive map of Buffalo's urban forest.
Top 10 Trees in Buffalo
This chart illustrates the most common trees found in Buffalo, New York. Tree diversification plays an important role to protect Buffalo's urban forest.
Trees and Planting-Appropriate Vacancies by Council District
The map below and to the left shows street and park trees by council district. Approximately one-fifth are located in the Delaware Council District. Roughly one-third of Delaware District's trees fall within the sprawling 350 acres of Delaware Park, the largest park in Frederick Law Olmsted's historic urban park system.
The Bureau of Forestry also keeps an inventory of open and planting-appropriate vacant spaces where trees could potentially be planted along our streets and in our parks. The map to right show vacancies (open and planting-appropriate spaces) by council district.
Note: Council districts are not equal in size so they contain a different amount of planting-appropriate spaces where trees can be located. For example, Niagara Council District is a small but very heavily treed district where 77% of spaces have trees planted. South Council District has more trees than Niagara but South's tree occupancy rate is only 56%.
Tree Species by DBH (in.) and Leaf Surface Area (square feet)
The DBH, or diameter at breast height, is a standard method of expressing the diameter of the trunk or bole of a standing tree (in inches) measured at 4.5 feet above ground level. This graph compares DBH to leaf surface area, the total space the surface of each leaf occupies.
The Best Shade in Olmsted Parks
These points indicate trees in Buffalo's Olmsted Park System with leaf surface areas greater than 400 square feet. You can find shade under one of these large canopies in Cazenovia Park, Front Park, or Delaware Park.
Top 10 CO₂ Sequestering Trees
The ten species of trees illustrated in this chart store the greatest amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide as biomass.
Top 10 Trees by Air Quality Benefits ($)
These ten trees offer the most air quality benefits to Buffalo by absorbing gaseous pollutants, intercepting particulates, releasing oxygen, transpiring water, shading surfaces, lowering air temperatures and reducing ozone levels. The monetary contribution of improved air quality provided by these species is illustrated in the graph below.
Yearly Ecological Benefits ($) by District
The yearly ecological benefit of a tree is calculated by combining the monetary contribution of its provision of greenhouse gas benefits, water benefits, energy benefits, air quality benefits, and property benefits. This chart shows the amount in dollars each district benefits as a result of their urban forestry.
Buffalo Streets With the Highest Number of Trees
Many of Buffalo's streets have narrow tree lawns or require cutouts in concrete sidewalks to create planting sites. These ten streets have the greatest number of trees between the sidewalk and curb. Scroll over the graph to view how many trees are planted on street segments within each of Buffalo's Common Council Districts.
Tree Distribution in Olmsted Parks
Delaware Park alone contributes over half of the total trees in Buffalo's parks with a tree density of over 19 trees per acre. Cazenovia Park provides just under a fifth of the overall park tree population in Buffalo.
