How will climate change affect New Hampshire’s forests and the plants and animals that inhabit them? How will these changes affect invasive species in the area? What species are most at risk? These are just some of the questions that have been at the forefront of UNH professor Tom Lee’s research. Tin Mountain Conservation Center’s October EcoForum will explore the results of Dr. Lee’s work, shedding light on how climate change will influence the forests of New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Join us on October 14 from noon-1pm to learn more.
Tom Lee is a forest ecologist in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of New Hampshire. His research focuses on natural and human disturbances in New England forest communities. He has studied natural forest dynamics and climate change effects in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, ozone effects on vegetation on the Maine coast, and is presently examining the effects of invasive shrubs on southern New Hampshire forests. He teaches courses in Forest Ecology and Conservation Biology.
Doctor Lee will begin by examining the present distribution of different kinds of forest in the state, then make an informed guess as to how the distribution of these forest types will change as climate warms. Individual climate responses of important tree species such as eastern hemlock and sugar maple as well as indicator species such as Bicknell’s thrush will be considered. Possible climate effects on invasive species, such as hemlock woolly adelgid, and the consequences of these effects on natural communities, will be explored. He will conclude with an assessment of the effects of climate change on forest productivity.
The EcoForum lunchtime lecture series is sponsored by The Flatbread Company of North Conway and the Rock House Mountain Baker. EcoForums are free and open to the public and are presented at noon on the second Thursday of each month at the Tin Mountain Nature Learning Center in Albany. The community is urged to attend to learn more about salient issues facing our natural environment and to hear the views of thought-provoking speakers.