GIS in management of landscape trees: Determining, monitoring and implementing safety measures on potentially hazardous trees

Trees located in the vicinity public areas such as roadsides, recreation areas, and around building should be monitored regularly for structural weakness. Certain conditions can cause a tree to be structurally weakened so that parts or all of it are likely to collapse Landscape trees do not only contribute to the enhancement of scenery but might also become potential hazards risks if, there is no proper management. Nature elements such as heavy rains and strong winds could further increase risks thus endangering public safety and contributing to property damage. A proper management approach to monitor the maintenance of the landscape trees can help to reduce these risks. The development of an effective system for landscape tree management within University Technology MARA (UiTM) Shah Alam campus has been developed in this study. Potentially hazardous landscape trees were identified using the professional Arborist inventory. The condition of trees based on the tree hazard evaluation form modified from the International Society of Arborists (ISA). Geographical database was constructed that include tree location, species, and diameter breast height (DBH), condition, and growth recordings. It was also based on the inventory and later integrated into a system that can be used for the maintenance of trees. The identification of potentially hazardous trees is targeted along the roadside areas of the campus main entrance. They are to be used as a sampling unit in this Study. The selected trees include 61 Peltophorum pterocarpum spp, trees that were planted for over 30 years and that now pose a hazard due to their size, conditions and location of the trees along the road side. The Geographical Information System (GIS) was developed using Visual Basic (VB) software as user interface. The design of GIS software that allow user to capture manipulate and analyze spatial database give a significant help in assisting the documentation and decision making of potential hazard trees.