Victoria, October 27, 2011 - The Pacific
Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) is awarding $450,000 to five
research teams to study the impact of climate change on the
province's forest ecosystems and find more sustainable forest
management practices.
Forests play a critical role in the planet's carbon cycle
through the uptake, storage and release of greenhouse gases such as
carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane. They are also worth billions of
dollars annually to the BC economy.
But forests are under threat from deforestation, global warming,
increasing fire frequency, and pests.
Almost 17.5 million hectares of BC's forested areas, for
example, are currently affected by the mountain pine-bark beetle
outbreak. As the beetle-killed wood decomposes, it releases CO2
into the atmosphere, thus contributing to global
warming.
"Global warming hangs like a sword over BC's forests and dealing
with it presents a big challenge," says PICS executive director Dr.
Tom Pedersen.
"PICS is very pleased to support collaborative research between
and among our leading universities, industry and federal research
labs that will improve long-term stewardship of our remarkable
forest resource," he added.
The funding is awarded under the institute's "carbon management
in BC forests" theme, with projects ranging in duration from one to
two years. Research topics include:
- Developing advanced forest growth and yield models to improve
predictions of carbon storage capacity
- Assessing current forest management practices in view of
adaptation to future climate change
- Using biomass as an energy source.
PICS is a collaboration of BC's four-research intensive
universities-the University of Victoria (UVic), the University of
British Columbia, Simon Fraser University and the University of
Northern British Columbia-and is hosted and led by
UVic.
Pedersen says the institute's collaborative nature sets it apart
from other research bodies because it brings together top minds
from different disciplines to collaborate on addressing aspects of
the climate challenge.
Further details on each of these research projects is available
here
Full details on other PICS research can be found here.