Our Scientists on the Climate Crisis

More than 11,000 scientists from around the world made headlines this week for declaring a “climate emergency” in an article published in BioScience on November 5, 2019.

Recent studies at Hubbard Brook have been sounding the alarm about the dramatic climate trends observable at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in Woodstock, NH.

Long-term records at Hubbard Brook, some of which date back to the 1950s, reveal the impacts of climate change on our forest ecosystems. “We combine decadal studies of climate with experimental manipulations of extreme weather to better understand how these changes impact our northern forests,” explains Dr. Lindsey Rustad, Research Ecologist and USDA Forest Service Team Leader for Hubbard Brook. “Our mission is to generate the science forest managers can use to ensure healthy and sustainable forests today and for generations to come.”

Below, Hubbard Brook researchers offer their commentary on recent climate studies.

On a synthesis of winter climate change in the Northern Forest, published in Ecological Applications on July 5, 2019:

“The northern forest is losing winter. The disappearance of cold, snow-covered conditions may fundamentally alter our ecosystem and impact wildlife, water, vegetation, and people in ways that we are only beginning to understand.”

– Dr. Alix Contosta, University of New Hampshire

“The coldest night of the winter limits the northern distribution of many plants and animals. We can anticipate a flood of other plant and animal species into regions where they have not occurred previously. In some cases, there will be detrimental effects on people, forests, farmlands, and prairies.”

– Dr. Matthew Ayres, Dartmouth College

On the dramatic loss of beetles at Hubbard Brook over the last 45 years, published in Biological Conservation on November 2, 2019:

“Biologist E.O. Wilson wrote that it is ‘the little things that run the world,’ and we now have clear evidence that the abundance and variety of these little creatures, like beetles, have declined dramatically due to climate change. The temperate forest ecosystems of northeastern North America are in a period of rapid transition—a tsunami of change—because climate affects every aspect of forest function.”

– Dr. Nicholas Rodenhouse, Wellesley College

On the “climate emergency” described in BioScience on November 5, 2019:

“As this report accurately points out, we need to continue to protect our natural ecosystems, which can offset significant amounts of greenhouse gases through sequestration of carbon in vegetation and soils. Losing ecosystems such as forests would only serve to exacerbate the climate crisis.”

– Dr. Pamela Templer, Boston University

Additional Reading:

Facts About Climate Change at Hubbard Brook