People and forests
We work at the Hakai Institute on the Central Coast of BC looking at the eco-cultural legacies associated with millennia of human occupation.
Shell middens are abundant in these coastal ecosystems
Climate change and range expansions
In collaboration with Carissa Brown (Memorial University), Steven Mamet (University of Saskatchewan) and Jill Johnstone (University of Saskatchewan), we developed a research consortium called G-TREE (Global Tree Range Expansion Experiment). This international experiment exames the mechanisms controlling the advance of the circumpolar treeline and will began in the summer of 2013 with representatives from 10 countries and 28 field sites. G-TREE involves establishing a low-cost, high-impact, ecological experiment that will allow us to describe large-scale patterns that are constraining treeline expansion, including substrate limitations and climate controls.
Black spruce seedling - 5 years old and still kicking...
Climate change and biodiversity
While much attention is given to direct consequences of climate change (e.g., increased plant growth due to longer growing season), less attention has been paid to indirect consequences. These indirect consequences of climate change can have profound impacts on ecosystem functions. This long-term experiment, in collaboration with Brian Starzomski (University of Victoria) disentangles climate change and mechanisms that structure biodiversity and influence ecosystem function
Experimental bliss