ISA CERTIFIED ARBORIST CORE 2026 EXAMS SET
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔Duty of Care - ✔✔Legal obligation that requires an individual to use a reasonable
standard of care when performing tasks that may potentially harm others.
✔✔Dynamic Cable System - ✔✔Any of several cabling systems that utilize nonrigid
materials for tree support systems.
✔✔Dynamic Loading - ✔✔Forces created by a moving load. Load that changes with
time and motion.
✔✔Ecology - ✔✔Study of the relationships among organisms and other living and
nonliving elements of their environment.
✔✔Ecosystems - ✔✔Complex system of living organisms and their abiotic environment.
✔✔Electrical Conductor - ✔✔Any object, material, or medium through which an
electrical current can flow. Electric supply lines are designed as electrical conductors;
however, guy wires, communication, animals, and other items can function as electrical
conductors.
✔✔Emergency Response - ✔✔Predetermined set of procedures by which emergency
situations are assessed and handled.
,✔✔Entire - ✔✔Term describing a leaf margin without teeth.
✔✔Epicormic - ✔✔Arising from a latent adventitious bud. Usually in reference to a
shoot.
✔✔Eradication - ✔✔Total removal of a species from a particular area. May refer to
pathogens, insect pests, or unwanted plants.
✔✔Espalier - ✔✔1) Specialized technique of pruning and training plants to grow within
a plane, such as along a wall or a fence.
✔✔Essential Elements - ✔✔17 minerals essential to the growth and development of
trees. These minerals are essential because plants cannot complete their life cycle
without them.
✔✔Evapotranspiration (ET) - ✔✔Loss of water by evaporation from the soil surface and
transpiration by plants.
✔✔Evergreen - ✔✔Tree or other plant that does not shed all of its foliage annually.
Contrast with deciduous.
✔✔Excurrent - ✔✔Tree growth habit characterized by a central leader and pyramidal
crown. Contrast with decurrent.
✔✔Exfoliating Bark - ✔✔Flaking or peeling bark.
✔✔Extra-High-Strength (EHS) Cable - ✔✔Type of 7 strand steel cable, often used to
cable trees. Stronger but less flexible than common-grade cable. Must be terminated
with dead-end tree grips.
✔✔Exudate - ✔✔Substance or solution that oozes out of injured plant cells or is
secreted through membrane pores.
✔✔Eye Bolt - ✔✔Cable anchor with a closed eye, usually machine threaded. Only drop-
forged eye bolts are accepted and approved for tree support systems in U.S..
✔✔Eye Splice - ✔✔In cabling, a closed termination loop, hand formed in common-grade
cable by wrapping the successive strands back upon the standing part to attach the
cable to anchor hardware.
✔✔Failure Potential - ✔✔In tree risk assessment, the professional assessment of the
likelihood for a tree to fail within a defined period of time.
, ✔✔Family - ✔✔Taxonomic group under the order level and above the genus level.
✔✔Felling Wedge - ✔✔Metal or plastic wedge inserted into the back cut to help direct
the path in which a tree or tree part falls.
✔✔Fertilizer Analysis - ✔✔Percentage of primary elements ( Nitrogen (N), phosphorus
(P), and potassium (K) ) in a fertilizer.
✔✔Fertilizer Burn - ✔✔Injury to a plant resulting from excess fertilizer salts in the
surrounding soil.
✔✔Fiber - ✔✔Elongated, tapering, thick-walled cell that provides strength to wood.
✔✔Fiber of Rope - ✔✔Smallest component of a rope.
✔✔Field Capacity - ✔✔Maximum soil moisture content following the drainage of water
due to the force of gravity. Compare to available water, gravitational water, and
permanent wilting point.
✔✔Figure-8 Knot - ✔✔Particular knot tied as a safety knot or stopper knot at the end of
a line.
✔✔First Aid - ✔✔Emergency care or treatment of the injuries or illnesses of a person to
stabilize his or her condition before medical help is available.
✔✔Foliage - ✔✔Leaves of a plant.
✔✔Foliar Analysis - ✔✔Laboratory analysis of the mineral content of foliage.
✔✔Foliar Application - ✔✔Applying a fertilizer, pesticide, or other substance directly to
the foliage.
✔✔Footlock - ✔✔Method of ascending a rope by wrapping the rope around the feet.
✔✔Forma - ✔✔Group of plants within a species having distinct variations that occur
sporadically and naturally.
✔✔Frass - ✔✔Fecal material and/or wood shavings produced by insects.
✔✔Friction Device - ✔✔Device used to take wraps in a load line to provide friction for
controlled lowering or climbing.
✔✔Friction Hitch - ✔✔Any of numerous knots used in tree climbing or rigging that may
alternately slide along and then grip a rope.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔Duty of Care - ✔✔Legal obligation that requires an individual to use a reasonable
standard of care when performing tasks that may potentially harm others.
✔✔Dynamic Cable System - ✔✔Any of several cabling systems that utilize nonrigid
materials for tree support systems.
✔✔Dynamic Loading - ✔✔Forces created by a moving load. Load that changes with
time and motion.
✔✔Ecology - ✔✔Study of the relationships among organisms and other living and
nonliving elements of their environment.
✔✔Ecosystems - ✔✔Complex system of living organisms and their abiotic environment.
✔✔Electrical Conductor - ✔✔Any object, material, or medium through which an
electrical current can flow. Electric supply lines are designed as electrical conductors;
however, guy wires, communication, animals, and other items can function as electrical
conductors.
✔✔Emergency Response - ✔✔Predetermined set of procedures by which emergency
situations are assessed and handled.
,✔✔Entire - ✔✔Term describing a leaf margin without teeth.
✔✔Epicormic - ✔✔Arising from a latent adventitious bud. Usually in reference to a
shoot.
✔✔Eradication - ✔✔Total removal of a species from a particular area. May refer to
pathogens, insect pests, or unwanted plants.
✔✔Espalier - ✔✔1) Specialized technique of pruning and training plants to grow within
a plane, such as along a wall or a fence.
✔✔Essential Elements - ✔✔17 minerals essential to the growth and development of
trees. These minerals are essential because plants cannot complete their life cycle
without them.
✔✔Evapotranspiration (ET) - ✔✔Loss of water by evaporation from the soil surface and
transpiration by plants.
✔✔Evergreen - ✔✔Tree or other plant that does not shed all of its foliage annually.
Contrast with deciduous.
✔✔Excurrent - ✔✔Tree growth habit characterized by a central leader and pyramidal
crown. Contrast with decurrent.
✔✔Exfoliating Bark - ✔✔Flaking or peeling bark.
✔✔Extra-High-Strength (EHS) Cable - ✔✔Type of 7 strand steel cable, often used to
cable trees. Stronger but less flexible than common-grade cable. Must be terminated
with dead-end tree grips.
✔✔Exudate - ✔✔Substance or solution that oozes out of injured plant cells or is
secreted through membrane pores.
✔✔Eye Bolt - ✔✔Cable anchor with a closed eye, usually machine threaded. Only drop-
forged eye bolts are accepted and approved for tree support systems in U.S..
✔✔Eye Splice - ✔✔In cabling, a closed termination loop, hand formed in common-grade
cable by wrapping the successive strands back upon the standing part to attach the
cable to anchor hardware.
✔✔Failure Potential - ✔✔In tree risk assessment, the professional assessment of the
likelihood for a tree to fail within a defined period of time.
, ✔✔Family - ✔✔Taxonomic group under the order level and above the genus level.
✔✔Felling Wedge - ✔✔Metal or plastic wedge inserted into the back cut to help direct
the path in which a tree or tree part falls.
✔✔Fertilizer Analysis - ✔✔Percentage of primary elements ( Nitrogen (N), phosphorus
(P), and potassium (K) ) in a fertilizer.
✔✔Fertilizer Burn - ✔✔Injury to a plant resulting from excess fertilizer salts in the
surrounding soil.
✔✔Fiber - ✔✔Elongated, tapering, thick-walled cell that provides strength to wood.
✔✔Fiber of Rope - ✔✔Smallest component of a rope.
✔✔Field Capacity - ✔✔Maximum soil moisture content following the drainage of water
due to the force of gravity. Compare to available water, gravitational water, and
permanent wilting point.
✔✔Figure-8 Knot - ✔✔Particular knot tied as a safety knot or stopper knot at the end of
a line.
✔✔First Aid - ✔✔Emergency care or treatment of the injuries or illnesses of a person to
stabilize his or her condition before medical help is available.
✔✔Foliage - ✔✔Leaves of a plant.
✔✔Foliar Analysis - ✔✔Laboratory analysis of the mineral content of foliage.
✔✔Foliar Application - ✔✔Applying a fertilizer, pesticide, or other substance directly to
the foliage.
✔✔Footlock - ✔✔Method of ascending a rope by wrapping the rope around the feet.
✔✔Forma - ✔✔Group of plants within a species having distinct variations that occur
sporadically and naturally.
✔✔Frass - ✔✔Fecal material and/or wood shavings produced by insects.
✔✔Friction Device - ✔✔Device used to take wraps in a load line to provide friction for
controlled lowering or climbing.
✔✔Friction Hitch - ✔✔Any of numerous knots used in tree climbing or rigging that may
alternately slide along and then grip a rope.
