Paul Moorcroft, Marco Albani
Harvard University
Primary Interests:
Competitive processes within plant communities and how they affect large-scale ecosystem dynamics
HWA Objective:
We are investigating the impact of the spreading Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) infestation on the structure, composition and biogeochemical functioning of eastern forests at local and regional-scales. We are examining this issue by incorporating the effects of HWA infestation on the structure and composition of affected forests into a terrestrial ecosystem model, the Ecosystem Demography model (ED). We will then use the model to explore the cascading effects of HWA infestation on forest structure, forest composition and the fluxes of carbon, water and nitrogen within the region, and examine how HWA infestation interacts with other forms of perturbation affecting eastern forests such as land-use change, climate change and rising CO2 levels.