Speaker: Dr. Jon Thompson Senior Ecologist at the Harvard Forest
Title: "The role of forests in Massachusetts’ Decarbonization Roadmap Study"
Abstract: In Massachusetts, forests cover 64 percent of the land area and currently serve as a large and growing sink for atmospheric carbon. Whether forests continue to provide this valuable ecosystem service will be strongly influenced by the rate, pattern, and intensity of land-use and land-cover (LULC) change. Thompson and his colleagues at the Harvard Forest are conducting the Land Sector Analysis as part of the Commonwealth’s Global Warming Solution Act and the associated Decarbonization Roadway Study. Their analyses estimate future stocks and fluxes of terrestrial carbon as they are affected by alternative scenarios of LULC change. The analyses focus on three principal drivers: (i) ecosystem processes such as forest growth, (ii) land-cover change, primarily forest conversion to developed uses, and (iii) commercial forestry, including the fate of harvested wood. Thompson will offer background and a summary of the current status of this important study.
LOCATION:Zoom STATUS:CONFIRMED DTSTART:20201013T190000Z DTEND:20201013T190000Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR