Webinar - Tree Diversity to Mitigate Climate Change Impacts on Forest Ecosystem Functioning

NOTE: The Registration Link if the ZOOM link for the Webinar.

In this seminar, Dr. Masumi Hisano, Hiroshima University, will introduce three of his key studies that explored the potential of
biodiversity to mitigate climate change impacts. First, he will discuss how climate change has affected forest ecosystem functioning and plant diversity, highlighting the potential for biodiversity to mitigate these impacts through enhanced ecosystem resistance and functioning. Second, he will present evidence from long-term inventory data of boreal forests in Alberta and Saskatchewan, showing that species-rich forests exhibit increased aboveground biomass growth while reducing biomass loss compared to monocultures, suggesting high tree diversity can reduce climate vulnerability. Finally, he will talk about how functional trait diversity and identity in dryland forests in western Canada can enhance productivity and resistance to climate change over the long term. These studies emphasize the importance of tree diversity in developing nature-based climate solutions and the need to consider diversity/composition in reforestation programs to focus on
these benefits.