New England: Land Cover and Forest Ecology

At the Woods Hole Research Center, we are studying how the forests and land cover of New England are changing. In southeastern Massachusetts and on Cape Cod, we quantify rates of forest clearing and other changes in land use with satellite data and GIS data. We also look at the expansion of impervious surfaces, and their impact on water flow and water quality. In Massachusetts and Maine, we study how climate and disturbance (e.g. nitrogen deposition and forest management) influence the exchange of carbon dioxide between the atmosphere and the forest. This research helps quantify the contribution of New Englands’ forests to the global carbon budget, and how this contribution might change in the future.