What makes urban forests work?: solutions focused research in the Thain Family Forest
Start Date
29-1-2024 3:45 PM
End Date
29-1-2024 5:00 PM
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
Forests provide essential services by regulating climate, provisioning resources and retaining biodiversity. Nowhere are these functions more valuable than in cities, where more people live today than at any other time or place in human history. Yet urban forests are both understudied and under threat. What makes urban forests work? By comparing how services change when either putting a forest together or taking one apart, my research provides complimentary perspectives on urban forest resilience. First, I show how ecosystem services emerge from collections of trees in a small-scale urban afforestation experiment. Second, I will describe past, ongoing and planned research in the Thain Family Forest at the New York Botanical Garden, the only uncut stand remaining in New York City.
Biography
Brad’s research supports diverse, resilient communities through deeper understanding of the complex relationship between life and climate. As an Associate Curator at the New York Botanical Garden, he focuses on roles for plants and microbes, which interact to drive the global carbon cycle in habitats transformed by people. His current projects examine urban forest resilience, afforestation for carbon sequestration, mangrove restoration and conservation biology of bromeliads. Prior to joining NYBG, he was an Associate Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies at New College of Florida and a Research Associate at both Marie Selby and Missouri Botanical Gardens. He received his Ph.D. in 2009 from Washington University and the Missouri Botanical Garden under the direction of Drs. Barbara Schaal and Peter Raven. Fun fact: Brad has used both a chainsaw and a wetsuit on the same research project.
Additional Links
ORCID
0000-0002-4227-3352
What makes urban forests work?: solutions focused research in the Thain Family Forest
Forests provide essential services by regulating climate, provisioning resources and retaining biodiversity. Nowhere are these functions more valuable than in cities, where more people live today than at any other time or place in human history. Yet urban forests are both understudied and under threat. What makes urban forests work? By comparing how services change when either putting a forest together or taking one apart, my research provides complimentary perspectives on urban forest resilience. First, I show how ecosystem services emerge from collections of trees in a small-scale urban afforestation experiment. Second, I will describe past, ongoing and planned research in the Thain Family Forest at the New York Botanical Garden, the only uncut stand remaining in New York City.