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Harvard Forest Symposium Abstract 2016

  • Title: Resilient Landscapes: The New England Landscape Futures Project
  • Primary Author: Kathy Fallon Lambert (Harvard Forest)
  • Additional Authors: Matthew Duveneck (New England Conservatory); Marissa McBride (Harvard Forest); Kathleen Theoharides (Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs); Jonathan Thompson (Harvard Forest)
  • Abstract:

    After two hundred years of re-growth, forest cover is declining in all six New England states. The incremental chipping away of open space seems imperceptible on a daily basis. Yet, land use is altering forests and other natural lands faster than climate change in the northeastern U.S.



    The consequences of this double whammy and its feedbacks to climate change are profound. However, few organizations are incorporating both land use and climate change into greenhouse gas inventories, climate mitigation and adaptation plans, and land conservation priorities. Scenarios bring together stakeholder knowledge, big data, and sophisticated models to overcome these limitations and help achieve more resilient landscapes for people and nature.



    As part of the New England Landscape Futures project, we are collaborating with stakeholders to build and evaluate scenarios that show how land-use choices and climate change could shape the landscape over the next 50 years. We work with teams of scientists to assess the consequences and trade-offs for ecosystem services and other benefits under each scenario. The resulting maps and data provide useful tools for exploring the impacts of different policy, planning, and conservation strategies. This work began in Massachusetts and now extends to the entire New England region.



    This project is coordinated by the Science Policy Exchange, a partnership of six leading northeastern research institutes including Harvard Forest, dedicated to connecting people and science for environmental solutions.

  • Research Category: Conservation and Management
    Ecological Informatics and Modelling
    Group Projects
    Regional Studies