Summary of FERN Research

My long-term aim is to develop a model to predict the effects of stand-level characteristics on vegetation dynamics at forest edges. I am currently working on or planning for a few specific projects. I have started a pilot project to investigate the initial stages of development of fire edges by monitoring vegetation changes including tree regeneration at the newly created fire edges in Nova Scotia. I am pursuing research to identify stand factors (e.g., canopy cover, height, species composition) that regulate edge influence on canopy structure using LiDAR to sample vegetation structure at different types of edges in forests within Nova Scotia. To identify regional factors that influence vegetation at edges I am building a global database of forest edge data to compare between regions and among edge types. Estimating and predicting the width and dynamics of forest edges are important for understanding effects of management activities for conservation and for predicting impacts of climate change.