Study examines how climate change affects Minnesota's trees

As our climate continues to change, scientists in St. Paul, Minnesota, are taking a closer look at how it's impacting our trees.

The trees here at Crosby Farm Regional Park along the Mississippi River are doing more than just swaying in the breeze. They're helping scientists better undestand climate change.

"If we think about floodplains, they're really stressful environments," said Scientific Site Lead Marcella Windmuller-Campione. "Everything that lives there has to both be able to survive like flooding conditions ... and maybe also surviving under drought conditions in the same year."

Marcella and the massive number of research and volunteer teams involved planted more than 1,200 trees covering 14 different species across the park.

The goal is to see which ones can adapt to our changing climate.

"Some of those species are a little bit newer to our ecosystem, but we're helping move them to our ecosystem given the predictions of where we're seeing. And so some of our newer species are tulip poplar, northern pine oak, pecan, American sycamore," said Windmuller-Campione.

It's a part of a larger project at 14 various sites across the country and Canada. But Crosby is the first and only one in a city. 

Six years into the 20-year study, and Windmuller-Campione says a majority of the trees aren't just surviving, they're thriving.

"We're getting birds living in the trees. We're seeing understory species come in. And the amount that this is doing for our city in terms of stormwater management, providing recreational space, creating cool environments. It's huge," she said.

The researchers say they inspect the tree's every year. They're hoping to get more winter data before making recommendations to forest managers. Right now, the early data is promising as it appears trees are adapting to survive.