forest canopy
Purdue launches new AI-based global forest mapping project
Purdue University’s Jingjing Liang has received a two-year, $870,000 grant from the World Resources Institute to map global forest carbon accumulation rates.
“To accurately capture the carbon accumulation rates of forested ecosystems across the world has always been a challenging task, mostly because doing so requires lots of ground-sourced data, and currently such data are very limited to the scientific community,” said Liang, an associate professor of quantitative forest ecology and co-director of the Forest Advanced Computing and Artificial Intelligence Lab.
“This task is considerably more challenging than mapping carbon emissions from forest loss,” said Nancy Harris, research director of the Land & Carbon Lab at the World Resources Institute, a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C. “With emissions, there’s a clear signal in satellite imagery when trees are cut, leading to a big drop in forest carbon stocks and a relatively abrupt pulse of emissions to the atmosphere. With sequestration, forests accumulate carbon gradually and nonlinearly.”
Single-Photon Lidar
The Canadian Institute of Forestry in partnership with the Canadian Wood Fibre Centre and other organizations are currently researching the potential of single photon lidar for Ontario’s
Enhanced Forest Resource Inventory (EFI) at the Petawawa Research Forest (PRF).
What is Lidar?
A lidar (light detection and ranging) sensors will emit light pulses that will reflect or bounce off objects, such as standing trees or the ground. This measures the time of return and the distance that each pulse travels. The result is highly detailed 3-D point clouds of the forest environment.
Jerry Franklin: The Father of New Forestry
Jerry Franklin, known as the “Father of New Forestry,” has made his mark in forest management for integrating ecological and economic objectives. His approaches, which faced skepticism initially, have become the standard in both environmental and timber industry circles.
Franklin began his career as a research forester for the USDA Forest Service in 1959. His early work included long-term experiments on forest ecosystems, particularly old-growth forests.
Daniel Beltrá: Capturing Earth’s Beauty and Humanity’s Impact
Daniel Beltrá, a Madrid-born photographer now calling Seattle, Washington, his creative haven; has a distinctive approach to his photography. His most captivating works are large-scale photographs taken from the air, providing viewers with a sweeping panorama of our world’s wonders and woes.
His unwavering passion for conservation can be seen from this elevated vantage point as he skillfully reveals the contrast of nature’s magnificence and humanity’s destructive footprint.
Deforestation’s Hidden Toll: Amplifying Disease Risk Worldwide
In the last couple of decades, the lush rainforest around the remote village of Meliandou in the heart of Guinea has become patchier. Animals, like bats, saw their habitats dwindle and in a quest for survival, they sought refuge in closer proximity to human environments, making the boundaries between species thinner. A hollowed-out tree in the middle of the village became home to a colony of bats.
About 50 meters from the same tree, in the heart of Meliandou, a two-year-old boy named Emile lived with his family. In a matter of days, Emile fell ill with an unknown virus, developed a high fever, and died. Soon the same virus, that scientists now believe Emile got from the bats, took the lives of his sister, mother, and grandmother. The village, surrounded by a ring of forest, unexpectedly became the epicenter of a devastating outbreak that would leave an indelible mark.
Trillion Trees: Communities Working to Restore Forests
In 2019, Trillion Trees partner The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) received support from Ecosia, the search engine that plants trees, to restore tree cover to Tanzania’s Southern Highlands. Working in collaboration with district council and community-based organizations, the project aims to restore degraded areas, protect water catchments and create community woodlots, with the ambition of planting 900,000 new trees over two years, making a lasting difference for people, nature and the climate.
Guardians of the Forest
In September 2018, indigenous and local community leaders from Latin America and Indonesia, the Guardians of the Forest, travelled to California with a mission to …
Indigenous Peoples’ Role in Protecting Forest Health
Nearly a quarter of the world’s population, or about 1.6 billion people, depend on forest resources to sustain their livelihood. This number includes an estimated 60 million who are members of indigenous groups. The worldviews of most indigenous cultures include a sacred obligation to serve as stewards of a healthy forest that can sustain its inhabitants for generations.
Indigenous peoples have been effectively managing their forests since “time immemorial,” yet governmental and scientific forestry experts have only recently begun to seek out the knowledge that indigenous peoples have about environmental management.
Stephen Nicholson: A Life Dedicated to Forest Health
Stephen Nicholson’s career in forest health and protection spans almost five decades, during which he has dedicated himself to developing and improving methods for applying pesticides and training others in their use. Today, we have the privilege of discussing his expertise and accomplishments in forest health and protection.