For Earth Month, a symmetrical forest known as a Nelder plot

© Rachid Dahnoun/Tandem Stills + Motio

Branch out for Earth Month. Taking the forest to the cloud

For Earth Month, we’re highlighting the power of trees, which help to clean our air and watersheds while providing habitat for myriad species, including our own. In urban areas, trees provide unique benefits by cooling area temperatures, producing oxygen, increasing property values and generally improving the scenery. The experimental planting featured on our homepage today is called a Nelder plot, in which trees are planted at the intersection of concentric arcs and linear spokes. The design allows researchers to study the effects of many different planting densities in a single plot.