TREE GROWTH

Understanding how tree growth responds to climatic variables and other global change drivers is critical to understanding forest responses and feedbacks to climate change. We study tree growth using a combination of tree-ring records, dendrometer bands, automated dendrometers, and census data.

Recent highlights:

• Dow et al. 2022 Nature

• Anderson-Teixeira et al. 2021 Global Change Biology

• McGregor et al. 2020 New Phytologist

TREE MORTALITY

Understanding the drivers and consequences of tree mortality is critical to understanding forest responses and feedbacks to climate change. We have conducted detailed tree mortality surveys in the SCBI forest dynamic plot since 2014. Protocols, data and analysis for years 2014-2015 censuses are published in Gonzalez et al. 2016. Since 2016, we started to closely monitoring all Fraxinus species in order to capture dynamics of the emerald ash borer (EAB) infestation which has decimated populations of the species in the northeast United States.

The most recent surveys are available in our Github repository. We encourage and welcome inquiries about potential collaboration.

Recent highlights:

• Kim et al. in press MEE

• Anderson-Teixeira et al 2021 Ecosystems.

FOREST CARBON DYNAMICS

We have developed and maintain the Global Forest Carbon database (ForC), the largest and most comprehensive global database of forest carbon stocks and annual fluxes. This open-access database currently contains almost 40,000 records from >10,000 forest research plots spanning all forested biogeographic and climate zones. ForC is valuable for both basic research and for informing forest-based climate change mitigation efforts.

Recent highlights:

• Rozendaal et al. 2022, Environmental Research Letters

• Anderson-Teixeira et al. 2021, Environmental Research Letters

• Banbury Morgan et al. 2021, Global Change Biology

• Cook-Patton et al. 2020, Nature

• Goldstein et al. 2020, Nature Climate Change

HYDRAULIC TRAITS AND FOREST ECOSYSTEMS FUNCTION

Hydraulic traits of trees can predict photosynthetic productivity, water use, and drought response, thereby providing a mechanism to better understand ecosystem hydraulic function and productivity of diverse forest communities. In collaboration with Lawren Sack (UCLA) and others, we are measuring a broad suite of relatively easily measurable hydraulic traits across many species in diverse tropical forests of Panama and Malaysia and using the data to better understand the functioning of these ecosystems.

Forest, fire, and climate change

Climate change is impacting both the frequency and severity of forest fires and post-fire forest recovery patterns. The Klamath region of Oregon and California is one area of particular concern. There, high-biomass conifer forests are relatively resistant to fire—except under periods of drought. When these forests burn, they are replaced by a mix of shrubs and hardwoods that burns much more easily, and it takes at least a couple decades for conifers to re-establish and become relatively fire resistant. Anticipated increases in aridity in this region are likely to lead to more frequent and severe fires and reduced rates of conifer regeneration. This NSF-funded project evaluated the potential for critical shifts from forest to non-forest in the Klamath region and worked with US Forest Service partners to identify forest management strategies in the face of climate change. For more information, see the Klamath Project website.

VALUING FORESTS FOR CLIMATE PROTECTION

The Earth's climate is strongly regulated by forests; clearing just 100 square feet of forest has roughly the same effect on climate as driving across the continental US. There is growing recognition of forest protection as an effective strategy for climate change mitigation, and designing effective climate mitigation policies requires accurate quantification of the climate services of terrestrial ecosystems. We are currently building an interactive online tool for calculating the climate regulation values of terrestrial ecosystems. It combines global maps of climatically significant ecosystem properties (e.g., biomass, soil carbon, net radiation, evapotranspiration) with Dr. Anderson-Teixeira's recently developed framework for quantifying the climate-regulating value of ecosystems to provide location-specific estimates of ecosystem climate regulation services.