Dimensions of Resilience: A Hubbard Brook Roundtable

May 10, 2018
Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest

The topic of this roundtable dialogue was ecological and community resilience in the White Mountains region. One of the goals of the roundtable was to generate ideas and advice to shape a new scientific synthesis about resilience led by a research team at Hubbard Brook. The dialogue demonstrated wide-ranging interest in forest changes in the region. Participants emphasized that the project should narrow in on the ecological aspects of resilience that are best suited for analysis from Hubbard Brook (“What is Hubbard Brook going to bring to these discussions that is special?”). Participants expressed interest in drawing connections between changing ecological resilience and economic impacts, with an emphasis on tourism and diversifying local economies. These topics were emphasized over topics related to forests and human physical health such as Lyme disease. The forest products industry was not widely discussed, likely due to the makeup of the assembled group. The dialogue revealed strong interest in the links among ecosystem health, psychological wellbeing, and how people connect to nature in local communities. Participants recommended that the synthesis project at Hubbard Brook be shaped to inform land management/land-use decisions and practices, and to provide a platform for sharing information with public audiences about how forests are changing and about the connections between our natural resources and our quality of life.