WEEKEND: Trees, climate change focus of talk in Forks tonight
Published 12:01 am Friday, January 29, 2016
NOTE: “Today” and “tonight” refer to Friday, Jan. 29.
FORKS — Trees and climate change in the Pacific Northwest will be the subject of the Olympic Natural Resources Center’s Evening Talk tonight.
University of Washington School of Environmental and Forest Sciences graduate student Caitlin Littlefield will speak at 7 p.m. at the center at 1455 S. Forks Ave.
Littlefield is interested in the range dynamics of tree species and the populations’ persistence under climate change, particularly in mountainous environments.
Her topic for this talk is “Landscape Connectivity: Addressing Climate Change — Tracking Climates through Time and Space.”
Littlefield and her research colleagues at the university have used the concept of analogous climates to trace routes through space that track current climate conditions to their future locations in western North America.
Climate ‘destinations’
Using connectivity tools based on electrical circuit theory, she’s evaluated the accessibility of these climate “destinations” in light of landscape intactness — or how much humans have modified the natural environment.
These connectivity analyses highlight potential barriers to and, conversely, pinch-points in species movements for tracking suitable climate into the future.
Analyses
Their results identify potential climate refugia (an area in which a population of organisms [trees] can survive through a period of unfavorable conditions) and critical areas for movement in western North America to ensure that suitable climates in the future are within reach for a range of terrestrial plants and animals.
Evening Talks at ONRC is funded through the Rosmond Forestry Education Fund, an endowment that honors the contributions of Fred Rosmond and his family to forestry and the Forks community.
Refreshments will be served.
Bringing a dessert for a potluck is encouraged.
For more information, contact Frank Hanson at 360-374-4556 or fsh2@uw.edu.
