UAF to host international conference on boreal forests

Submitted by Marmian Grimes
Phone: (907) 474-7902
05/15/07

The University of Alaska Fairbanks is hosting the sixth annual International Conference on Disturbance Dynamics in Boreal Forests. The event will take place May 30 to June 2, 2007. The theme of this year’s meeting is "Climate Change Impacts on Boreal Forest Disturbance Regimes." Boreal forests inhabit a broad circumpolar band, accounting for about one-third of Earth’s total forest area.

Conference participants will assess current and potential effects of climate change on disturbance dynamics in boreal forests around the world. Researchers hope to establish a research plan to study the effects of climate change on disturbance dynamics in boreal forests and facilitate the exchange of ideas between nations.

Scientists want to understand the interactions among climate, fire, insects, disease and other factors. This information contributes to better forest management and better projections of the future structure, diversity and function of the boreal forest.

"Interactions between climate change, species resilience and disturbance events will likely lead to rapid, important and surprising changes in vegetation composition and the structure and function of boreal ecosystems,"? said John Yarie, chair of the UAF forest sciences department, School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences.

The conference is hosted by the department and the Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research Program.

CONTACT: John Yarie, forest sciences, at (907) 474-5650 or via e-mail at j.yarie@uaf.edu or Doreen Fitzgerald, public information officer, at (907) 474-5042 or at doreen.fitzgerald@uaf.edu.

ON THE WEB: http://www.icddbf.uaf.edu