A student at Augusta University (AU) is taking a deeper look at the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on the Summerville campus and the implications of tree loss for the future.
Austin Plagens, an undergraduate honor student, realized there had been a dramatic shift in the appearance of the campus following the hurricane. He also realized the magnitude of the loss needed to be better documented. He’s cataloging the changes for his honor’s thesis.
Since the storm, Plagens has walked the campus, creating an inventory of every missing tree, its type, and its location. One of the most obvious losses is a spot known as “the grove.”
“It’s not there. There are no trees at all in that area where there was a lot of seating and a lot of tables,” he explained for ABD. “It was nice. It was shaded. A lot of people would bring their hammocks and just lounge in the shade. Even the hammock spots have been taken down because you’re just going to get sunburned.”
He said the loss of trees is not just an aesthetic difference. There is an impact on ecology and wildlife on campus.
“I was taking an ornithology class at the time, and most Fridays we would walk around and see the birds on campus,” he said. “When Helene hit, there wasn’t any food for them. Even the squirrel population has drastically shifted because there was just no food for them anywhere and no shelter, nothing. It’s changed everything. It’s affected people, it’s affected insect populations, it’s affected birds.”
Plagens added that the impact is being felt by students and staff on campus, but also by visitors to the Summerville campus.
“People who bring their dogs, bring their kids, and just walk it every day say it’s hotter because so much of the pavement is now being shown,” he said. “The pavement holds on to a lot more heat, which almost gives it the urban heat island effect, because there’s just so much brick holding on to that heat later into the evening as well. It has changed the micro-climate of the Summerville campus.”
AU may be best known for its medical research, but AU President Dr. Russell Keen said students and faculty in the College of Science and Math are researching the devastation in the wake of the hurricane.
“An ecology professor at AU secured a grant to help restore the tree canopy on the Summerville campus, and students are involved in assessing what trees were lost. So, we do research, certainly on the Health Sciences front, but there’s also research that’s very real and translatable to our community that’s taking place right here.”
Keen estimated that a combined 2,000 trees were lost on the Summerville and Health Sciences campuses.
Associate Professor Robert Cromer, Plagens’ faculty advisor, received a $10,000 grant from the Georgia Forestry Commission, money that will be used to re-plant trees.
“We’re trying to plant fairly large trees, so we’re looking at about 65 trees we’re going to plant,” he said. “We’re going to order them this fall and hopefully plant them over winter, spring, and with all native trees, a lot that produce acorns or native fruits or flowers for pollinators.”
Plagens found a tree census from 2009, so he can research 15 years of tree canopy on campus. He found many that were non-native species, and he wants those replaced with native trees and shrubbery.
“A lot of these trees aren’t even structurally sound anymore, and they don’t get very big, but they do hold on to a lot of the soil, so when they fall over, the campus has to go and replant the tree,” he said. “So, I’ve been working with the Environmental Service Office to try and get them to see the importance of this campus as a biodiversity hotspot and trying to get that implemented.”
Once completed, Plagens’ thesis will also be available for organizations interested in assisting with the tree restoration project. Interested groups can request a copy by contacting Robert Cromer at rcromer@augusta.edu
