Bolstering forest health, climate resilience
Angelica Patterson, curator of education and outreach for the Miller Worley Center for the Environment at Mount Holyoke College, was quoted saying that the size of humans’ role in fostering climate resilience in forests depends on the trees themselves.
As the state responds to the ongoing repercussions of climate change, discussions concerning forest management continue to make headlines as policymakers discuss the best way to maximize carbon sequestration in forests.
Angelica Patterson, curator of education and outreach for the Miller Worley Center for the Environment at Mount Holyoke College, was quoted by the Daily Hampshire Gazette, along with other researchers, saying that the size of humans’ role in fostering and maintaining climate resilience in forests depends dramatically on the trees themselves.
Reflecting on research she conducted in New York’s Black Rock Forest, where she observed physiological differences in the ways trees responded to temperature across individual species and groups of trees from historically different range distributions, Patterson noted that there’s a wide range of drought tolerance in tree species throughout the Northeast.
Patterson’s research tracks species’ ability to withstand disturbances with yearly variations of precipitation and temperature. She also notes that both historical and human contexts influence management practices.
“What’s really important is to have these management practices, these decisions that are being made about the future of forests, incorporate diverse voices,” Patterson said. “We can empower each other. We can inspire each other and really learn from each other. Indigenous populations have been managing these forests for thousands of years, and there’s a lot that we can learn from that.”