Duke Student Chapter of SAF presents:
2023 Annual Symposium
25 March 2023
“Forest Resiliency in the Face of Climate Change”
REGISTER HERE
(Unless otherwise specified, all talks are in Field Auditorium, Grainger Hall, Nicholas School)
7:45 AM Registration Opens
9:00 AM Morning Keynote: Tara Keyser (USFS Research Forester)
Past, present, and future sustainability of Appalachian hardwood forests: What’s at risk?
During this presentation, the audience will develop a more detailed understanding of the ecological and economic values associated with upland hardwood forests, including how past land use and forest management has influenced the current structure and composition of Appalachian hardwood forests. I will discuss the linkages between hardwood forests and the production of ecosystem goods and services, including water, biodiversity, wildlife habitat, and provide science-based information related to the key role sustainable forest management has in conserving Appalachian hardwood forests within the context of changing environmental conditions.
10:30 AM Breakout Session #1
Carolyn Copenheaver (VA Tech) Talk location: Grainger Hall 2102
Sugar maple: Climate growth response in a late successional species
Late successional tree species in the eastern deciduous forests are often overlooked in dendroclimatology studies because competition rather than climate tends to influence their tree-ring growth. However, under changing climatic conditions the importance of climate on tree growth may be increasing in late successional species. Therefore, we examined sugar maple’s dendroclimatic response in mature forests from Ontario to North Carolina to identify potential shifts in climate growth response over time and across sites.
Kelly Oten (NC State)
The Bugs are Talking: Climate Change and forest health
We will discuss the impacts climate change is having and will continue to have on forest health, including increased stress on trees and altered biology of pests across the Southeastern US and beyond.
11:30 AM Breakout Session #2
Jim Clark (Duke University) Talk location: Grainger Hall 2102
Regeneration potential of forests with climate change: the role of seed production
The increasingly familiar forests diebacks from all parts of globe are tragic. But more critical for the future are the forests that follow, which depends on seed production. For most of the planet, we know neither the amounts of seed, nor how much survives. Planning for climate change requires this knowledge to anticipate tree migrations and its impacts on animals that depend on forests for habitat and food. Understanding these forest recruitment responses requires a continent scale effort. From North America, Europe, and South Africa, I’ll describe our studies to understand where seed production occurs, how it is changing, and the habitat and climate changes that are causing change.
Paul Manos (Duke University)
Adaptive dynamics of oak forests through time: parallel biogeography histories and species divergence despite gene flow
The temperate deciduous forest of Eastern North America has its origins from mostly distant plant communities that encircled higher latitudes across the Northern Hemisphere. The deep phylogenetic history of the oaks, arguably the most ecologically important trees of the north temperate zone, reveals parallel diversification in climatic niche, leaf habit, and diversification rates. It also turns out that oaks and their chestnut relatives have been hybridizing for millions of years. A better understanding of the consequences of current gene flow among species is needed to consider the future of oak forests under climate change.
1:30 PM Afternoon "Fire in Practice" Panel: MC Murphy, Helen Mohr and Marko Bey
3:15 PM Closing Keynote: Katie Rose Levin (TreesDurham)
Managing the urban forest in a changing climate
How do we grow urban trees in an increasingly hot, chaotic world? They are living infrastructure that clean the air, cool our neighborhoods, and reduce flooding while increasing community cohesiveness. We’ll review the technologies and techniques used to grow trees in urban environments and how municipalities are integrating trees as both high- and low-tech solutions. In addition, we’ll discuss the social justice aspects of urban forestry and why the issue of who has access to trees is increasingly important.
5:00 PM Happy Hour at the Glass Jug, Durham
