Science AMA series: I’m Brian Buma, Assistant Professor at the
University of Alaska. I study forest disturbances around the world,
focusing on emerging mortality associated with climate change and
carbon/water/forests as an integrated system. AMA!
Abstract
Hi reddit! I am a disturbance ecologist (think fires, windstorms,
landslides) that primarily studies the response of forested ecosystems
to emerging disturbances triggered by climate change. I’m particularly
interested in how resilient forests may be to these new stresses - and
if that resilience is a good thing. Will our forests recover from future
disturbances? What will that recovery look like? Does this recovery –
or lack thereof – help or hinder species ability to migrate in response
to climate change? What new disturbances are emerging? One striking
example of all of these issues is the emerging mortality of species
along the remote southeast Alaskan and Canadian west coast, where
400,000 ha (so far) of trees have died due to low snow conditions
brought about by warming winters. The cause is surprisingly related to
freezing – the soil is no longer insulated by snow, so cold snaps can
kill. This is an emerging disturbance that we are just beginning to
study, and it’s dramatically changing the forest community. But it also
appears to be associated with migration in other, less climate sensitive
species. So perhaps this disturbance, and others, are facilitating the
migration of species into more favorable climates. It’s a complex
ecological story of adaption/maladaptation and creative destruction (so
to speak), and great fun to investigate. Most of my work involves a
focus on either forest biodiversity, forest carbon, or water resources,
and I’ve worked in Hawaii, the Rocky Mountains, and Alaska, and
collaborated on projects around the world using a combination of
fieldwork, remote sensing/satellites, GIS, and modeling. I am also the
caretaker of what is believed to be the longest running permanent study
plots studying primary succession in the world in Glacier Bay, Alaska
(100 years and counting). So the data comes from a lot of sources, and
I’m happy to discuss integration of methods as well. For more info,
[check out this website.](www.brianbuma.com) I will be answering
your questions at 1 PM ET, AMA! Edit: Thanks everyone! Some really
interesting and thought provoking questions in here, and it’s humbling
and exciting to see so many people concerned and interested in the state
of the world’s forests. There were lots of great ideas for next steps,
projects, etc mentioned here and I’d love to hear how those progress. I
have to run for a meeting but I’ll check back in tonight (it’s only 1PM
in Alaska right now, after all, lots of time) and keep on doing what I
can. Edit 2: And I’m back for a bit. This is really fun. …off for
dinner. Will log in later to reply further. In the meantime, most of my
work is posted on my website, and for those great questions about
coastal forests I would encourage you to check out the Alaska Coastal
Rainforest Center (http://acrc.alaska.edu/) for all things coastal
forest related. Feel free to email with questions as well, I’m always
looking for interested students and research collaborations, in addition
to partners in management and policy. Alrighty, it’s late in Alaska, so
I’m done (and Denzel is online…). Thanks so much for your
questions!