Studying Climate Change, One Tree at a Time

16-10110-DIEZTE-019 “As the new generation, we definitely know the effects of global climate change, and we know it’s an issue,” Eliandro Tavares (CGS’16, CAS’18) says.

Eliandro is a part of the climate research team lead by Michael Dietze, a CAS associate professor of earth and environment at BU. During the summer, Eliandro, Dietze and other researchers set out into the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire to study the effects of climate change by measuring the growth and height of trees. Their tasks included: recording the growth and health status of hemlocks, maples, and other tree species. In addition, they surveyed various plots for over a month to track the growth of the trees and observe the effects of climate change. Then, the results are put into a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet records facts from the trees’ diameter and height and if it can be related to signs of damage and disease.

“By the end of this we’ll be able to tell you about tree number 7516, how much that has grown or not. It might seem like one tree, but no one’s ever done this before on this big a scale” Tavares states. Further, “Every tree is mapped, and they’re re-measured every year,” says Dietze. This project has enabled to monitor the effects of climate change. Measuring the diameters and heights allows Tavares and other students to truly understand the impact of human activity on the environment.

Read the full story at BU Today.