PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Grabosky, Jason AU - Pattanshetti, Shraddha AU - Zhang, Tianyun AU - Blake, Thomas AU - Casario, Brianna AU - Koeser, Andrew AU - Miesbauer, Jason TI - Testing a Modified Pipe Model Approach to Predict Cross-Sectional Area of Tree Roots at Specific Distances from the Tree AID - 10.48044/jauf.2024.027 DP - 2025 Jan 01 TA - Arboriculture & Urban Forestry PG - 14--28 VI - 51 IP - 1 4099 - http://auf.isa-arbor.com/content/51/1/14.short 4100 - http://auf.isa-arbor.com/content/51/1/14.full AB - When considering the establishment of tree protection zones in construction, or in assessing relative damage to a tree for risk or penalty, it would be useful to have a method to predict total root area at some distance from the tree. With such a method, the arborist can assess the level of damage in comparison to some estimate of the total rather than from a loss of possible root zone space based on land area. We used a modification of the pipe model approach to estimate the root cross-sectional area at different distances from the tree as defined by the edge and center of the trunk. We discuss two early studies. The first considers root systems excavated from a limited set of 9 trees over 50 years post-establishment across 3 species. Trees were excavated and roots harvested, cataloged, and imaged for measurement at 1, 2 and 3 meters from the trunk edge of the respective tree. The second study considered 29 digitally mapped root systems of Fraxinus pennsylvanica ‘Patmore’ 9 years post-transplant by developing code for a virtual dissection at specific distances from the tree trunk. The second study observed variability across a tightly defined set of trees. There was a weak relationship between root area at set distances by species, and we found 3 m was a useful distance in the first study. We have a long way to go in development before having a method as a tool for practice, but the approach may be useful with additional observation and study.