04/27/2022
By Lynne Schaufenbil
Abstract: The expansion of urban tree canopy is commonly a proposed nature-based solution to combat the negative impacts of climate change and urbanization. The influence trees have on urban climates and cycling of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, depend on the biophysical responses of urban vegetation to the unique environmental conditions of the built environment. The heterogeneous nature of urban landscapes, unique vegetation assemblages, and land management decisions make it difficult to predict the spatial and temporal variability in the ecosystem services provided by urban vegetation. This presentation will discuss two research projects that examine the response vegetation to the process of urbanization. In the first project, Winbourne will share findings on the drivers influencing the extent to which urban vegetation can help cities combat extreme temperature events through the process of evapotranspiration. In the second project, she will share findings from a study examining the influence of urbanization on carbon dioxide fluxes from urban vegetation types, and the implications for developing effective monitoring systems that are necessary for guiding public policy decisions and monitoring their efficacy.
Short Bio:
Joy Winbourne, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences at UMass Lowell. Winbourne is an ecosystem ecologist and terrestrial biogeochemist. Her research is focused on understanding how plants regulate the movement of carbon, nutrients and water in terrestrial ecosystems under a variety of human perturbations. In particular, she examines the impact of urbanization, deforestation, forest fragmentation, and climate change on terrestrial ecosystem processes. Her research agenda is motivated by the need for actionable ecological data and theory to inform sustainable environmental policies and evaluate their efficacy especially in the context of global climate change. To address these research aims, Winbourne integrates field studies, remote sensing, meta-analyses, and modeling approaches to scale ecosystem processes at the individual soil core or tree to landscape scales to uncover trends in key services ecosystems provide human societies. Prior to joining UMass Lowell, was a postdoctoral research fellow at Boston University and Voss Postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Environment and Society at Brown University. She holds a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of California at Davis.
If you are interested in participating, please email Lynne_Schaufenbil@uml.edu for the Zoom link.