SE CASC/South Atlantic Spring/Summer Science Series: Urbanization Consequences

“Consequences of urbanization and climate change on human and ecosystem health” with Steve Frank, Professor, Dept. of Entomology at NC State University

Join us for the first webinar in a Spring/Summer Science Series brought to you by the Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center (SE CASC) and the Southeast Conservation Blueprint team! These webinars will highlight SE CASC projects relevant to conservation in the South Atlantic region.

Urban forests provide well-documented environmental and societal benefits valued at more than four billion dollars per year in the United States. As cities expand onto land once occupied by rural forests, urban trees take on an even more vital role in mitigating global climate change, conserving biodiversity, and protecting human health. Maintaining the health of trees is challenging in cities and in forests under climate change because of tree stress and pests. Unhealthy trees do not provide adequate ecosystem services or conservation value compared to healthy trees. In this work we found that exotic trees can remain healthy and maintain biodiversity of arthropods (e.g. spiders and insects) that is similar to native trees, and in stressful locations exotic trees performed better. This information can help resource managers select the best tree species for different locations and goals. We also found that native insects can become invasive pests when exposed to the urban heat island effect or climate warming. As these pests become more abundant and expand their range they could threaten the health of forests. Scientists and resource managers can use our results to predict which species may become pests with climate change and can use cities as laboratories for understanding the effects of climate change.

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://ncsu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIkf–uqDouINRjmnqQa0GEIurNA5BpeA 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.