|
Climate Change and Aspen: Implications for Our Future Forests Tuesday, July 17, 2012 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM Carbon dioxide (CO2) has been increasing in our atmosphere for many decades - this is very well documented. As an important factor in plant growth the question arises as to what changes it might be causing in plants across the globe. A decade long study is underway to document impacts on the quaking aspen, an ecologically important forest tree that has a broad geographic distribution in the Rocky Mountains, as well as throughout many portions of the Northern Hemisphere. Over the next century, human activities will increase atmospheric carbon dioxide and ozone, which are potent modifiers of plant growth, but it is unclear how these human-induced environmental changes will influence the ecological dynamics of aspen forests. In this presentation, Dr. Don Zak will discuss the basic ecological characteristics of quaking aspen in the Rocky Mountains and summarize the results of the decade-long Aspen FACE experiment, which is designed to understand how aspen forests in the future will respond to increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide and ozone in the Earth’s atmosphere. This research will provide insights into Wyoming's & Jackson Hole's future, as well as the Earth as a whole, and Don's presentation will explain the research results of the Aspen FACE experiment.
Detailed information about the Aspen FACE (Free-Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment) may be found at: http://aspenface.mtu.edu/.
Additional Information July 17 (Tuesday), 6 p.m., Teton Co. Commissioners Chamber - Open to Public. Presentation: " Climate Change and Aspen: Implications for Our Future Forests". By Don Zak, University of MichiganCategory >CommunityOrganization
Geologists of Jackson HoleEvent Cost FREE |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
