Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on the Productivity of Vermont’s Forests

Conference Year

January 2021

Abstract

Forest productivity is a measure of the net growth rate of a forest, measured in the mass of carbon accumulated per unit area per year, through the process of photosynthesis. My research focuses on the effect that climate change is having and will potentially have on forest productivity in Vermont. These effects are categorized into changes in aboveground biomass, and changes in soils and nutrient cycling. Climate change in combination with anthropogenic forest usage has the potential to impact forest carbon storage, and understanding this impact is crucial to navigating the tradeoffs between managing forests for their health, for climate mitigation, and for resource use.

Primary Faculty Mentor Name

Gillian Galford

Graduate Student Mentors

Jess Wikle, Hanusia Higgins

Faculty/Staff Collaborators

Jess Wikle (Graduate Student Mentor), Hanusia Higgins (Graduate Student Mentor)

Status

Undergraduate

Student College

Rubenstein School of Environmental and Natural Resources

Program/Major

Environmental Sciences

Primary Research Category

Food & Environment Studies

Abstract only.

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Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on the Productivity of Vermont’s Forests

Forest productivity is a measure of the net growth rate of a forest, measured in the mass of carbon accumulated per unit area per year, through the process of photosynthesis. My research focuses on the effect that climate change is having and will potentially have on forest productivity in Vermont. These effects are categorized into changes in aboveground biomass, and changes in soils and nutrient cycling. Climate change in combination with anthropogenic forest usage has the potential to impact forest carbon storage, and understanding this impact is crucial to navigating the tradeoffs between managing forests for their health, for climate mitigation, and for resource use.