Join us for the next BPE Seminar
From Carbon Storage to Carbon Fate: How Tree NSC Storage Strategies Shape Forest Resilience under Climate Stress
with Dr. David Herrera Ramirez, a G. Evelyn Hutchinson Postdoctoral fellow at the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies.
Abstract: Forests are central regulators of the global carbon cycle, yet the mechanisms governing their resilience under accelerating climate extremes remain poorly resolved. While ecosystem carbon fluxes are increasingly well quantified, the internal processes by which trees buffer carbon imbalance during stress are rarely mechanistically represented. This gap limits our ability to interpret flux variability, anticipate mortality, and project forest stability under future climates.
In this seminar, I examine how diversity in tree non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) storage strategies regulates carbon dynamics and shapes forest responses to drought, fragmentation, and fire. Drawing on empirical work in tropical forests, I present evidence that stemwood NSC storage functions as a key trait structuring trees’ carbon economy, recovery capacity, and survival trajectories. I also introduce a conceptual framework that treats carbon storage as a metabolic “safety margin,” to determine vulnerability thresholds and risk.
By integrating storage traits into predictive frameworks, we can move beyond binary alive–dead characterizations toward a process-based understanding of forest resilience and degradation.
Zoom info:
https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/j/95332400100?
Meeting ID: 953 3240 0100
Passcode: 504872
Emai: Annika Gomez - [email protected]
