Forests / en Drone-based technology remotely assesses health of trees impacted by climate change /news/drone-based-technology-remotely-assesses-health-trees-impacted-climate-change <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Drone-based technology remotely assesses health of trees impacted by climate change</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/IngoEnsmingerFlightteam.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=O-jhubWx 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/IngoEnsmingerFlightteam.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=K8O1ruXh 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/IngoEnsmingerFlightteam.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=6Lm6eS5a 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/IngoEnsmingerFlightteam.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=O-jhubWx" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2022-05-24T12:54:40-04:00" title="Tuesday, May 24, 2022 - 12:54" class="datetime">Tue, 05/24/2022 - 12:54</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">The Ensminger Lab's drone flight team has developed a technology that remotely assesses photosynthetic phenology and plant fitness (photo courtesy of Ensminger Lab)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/tanya-rohrmoser" hreflang="en">Tanya Rohrmoser</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/conservation" hreflang="en">Conservation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/biology" hreflang="en">Biology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/climate-change" hreflang="en">Climate Change</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/drones" hreflang="en">drones</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/environment" hreflang="en">Environment</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/forests" hreflang="en">Forests</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-and-innovation" hreflang="en">Research and Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sustainability" hreflang="en">Sustainability</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-mississauga" hreflang="en">U of T Mississauga</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Canada has nearly&nbsp;362&nbsp;million hectares of forest, but climate change is negatively impacting tree health and productivity. Trees planted today need to withstand future climate instability.</p> <p>Enter <strong>Ingo Ensminger</strong>, an associate professor of biology at the&nbsp;şüŔęĘÓƵ Mississauga,&nbsp;and an innovative new technology&nbsp;that could provide&nbsp;further insights into tree health.&nbsp;<a href="https://ensminger.csb.utoronto.ca/">Ensminger’s lab</a>&nbsp;studies plant-environment interactions and the impact of climate change on metabolism and photosynthesis of plants from molecular to leaf, species&nbsp;and ecosystem level.</p> <div class="image-with-caption left"> <div><img alt src="/sites/default/files/Ingo%20-%20Feb%202021.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 198px;"><em><span style="font-size:12px;">Ingo Ensminger</span></em></div> </div> <p>Ensminger and his team have developed a drone-based technology, dubbed the FastPheno project, that remotely assesses photosynthetic phenology and plant fitness.</p> <p>“Most people who use drones in trees and forests try to measure height and the size of the canopy, they use drones for inventories,” he says. “Our goal is different – we try to assess health and fitness, and overall performance as indicated by the ability of vegetation to remove CO2 from the atmosphere when they photosynthesize and produce biomass.”</p> <p>Ensminger&nbsp;<a href="https://genomecanada.ca/project/fast-track-diagnosis-of-stress-disease-phenology-and-growth-drone-based-high-throughput-field-phenotyping-for-genome-assisted-tree-breeding-and-selection-fastpheno/">was recently&nbsp;awarded $4.7 million in funding</a> for his&nbsp;FastPheno&nbsp;project by Genome Canada, an independent, federally funded not-for-profit.</p> <p>“It is very rewarding to receive funding to develop and implement tools that will hopefully be used to help tree breeders and forest practitioners to identify trees that are resilient to climate change,” says Ensminger, who anticipates the tools will&nbsp;be used for tree improvement programs or to set targets for forest conservation and management.</p> <p><a href="https://genomecanada.ca/funding/genomic-applications-partnership-program/">Genome Canada’s Genomic Applications Partnership Program</a> brings new applied genomics solutions to issues facing Canadians, and supports collaborations in forestry and other sectors.</p> <p>The unique technology enables them to distinguish the performance of thousands of trees, and researchers can use the approach to detect drought stress control on photosynthesis in natural forests.</p> <p>“All this is based on the optical fingerprint of vegetation,” Ensminger explains. “This fingerprint is derived by measurements of leaf spectral reflectance. Leaf spectral reflectance is highly variable, and it can be used as a plant health indicator, because it changes upon exposure to drought stress or heat stress.” The fingerprint is also species-specific, and hence future work in Ensminger’s lab will also explore how species can be distinguished to monitor biodiversity.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="media_embed" height="422px" width="750px"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="422px" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZNzRoRKrPYg" title="YouTube video player" width="750px"></iframe></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>When it comes to tree breeding and forest conservation, the ability to distinguish trees that perform well during drought and heat is incredibly useful&nbsp;— complementing genomic selection with adaptive traits&nbsp;could help produce trees resilient to future climate in Canada.</p> <p>Simply put, Ensminger believes, it&nbsp;could transform Canada's forest sector.</p> <p>“Outcomes have been very promising,” Ensminger reports. “We can distinguish trees that are water-stressed from well-watered trees, we can assess how photosynthetic activity varies over the course of the year, and in large forest stands we can identify trees that perform well and distinguish those from unhealthy trees or trees that are stressed.”</p> <p>Ensminger’s technology is fast, reliable&nbsp;and cost-effective&nbsp;compared to vegetation monitoring that relies on visual inspections and manual measurements. New research enabled through&nbsp;FastPheno&nbsp;now aims to apply the drone-based phenotyping approach at a large scale and explore how reliably it can be used across forests in Ontario and Quebec to monitor the health and fitness of individual trees.</p> <p>If successful,&nbsp;FastPheno&nbsp;could create cost savings of $540 million per year and reduce assessment times from a matter of weeks to hours –&nbsp;and it can be transferred from forest vegetation to applications in agriculture, conservation&nbsp;and biodiversity studies.</p> <p><img alt src="/sites/default/files/White%20Spruce%20Forest_0.png" style="width: 750px; height: 500px;"></p> <p><em>St. Casimir experimental forest in Quebec, a field site where Ensminger and his team do a lot of their drone work&nbsp;(photo courtesy of Éric Dussault, Natural Resources Canada)</em></p> <p>What’s next for Ensminger’s team? During their drone flights, they’re collecting an enormous amount of data – and now it’s a matter of processing and analyzing it. They’re collaborating with robotics experts to improve field data collection and will be developing tools to automate the process of image analysis and pixel classification using machine learning and AI technologies.</p> <p>“We also aim to develop software and web-interfaces that provide users access so that not just researchers, but a wide range of end-users have access to the data produced through this approach,” he says.</p> <p>“This is an exhilarating time for genomics,” noted Rob Annan, Genome Canada President and CEO, following a federal announcement of funding in March for FastPheno and other projects. “The knowledge, tools and technologies it is generating are driving innovation in traditional sectors and helping them achieve green growth, as well as improving the health and quality of life of Canadians.”&nbsp;</p> <p>Ensminger’s project will complement the genomic selection research and operational programs of Natural Resources Canada and the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks of Quebec.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 24 May 2022 16:54:40 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 174858 at U of T researchers to co-lead national Wildland Fire Research Network /news/u-t-researchers-co-lead-national-wildland-fire-research-network <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">U of T researchers to co-lead national Wildland Fire Research Network</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/GettyImages-528526638.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=UcGe0HNX 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/GettyImages-528526638.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=EsPhoK6X 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/GettyImages-528526638.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=YUtjxdz0 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/GettyImages-528526638.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=UcGe0HNX" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2020-07-08T15:31:06-04:00" title="Wednesday, July 8, 2020 - 15:31" class="datetime">Wed, 07/08/2020 - 15:31</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Smoke billows into the sky near Fort McMurray, Alta. in May 2016 (photo by Cole Burston/AFP via Getty Images)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/stephen-kupferman" hreflang="en">Stephen Kupferman</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/climate-change" hreflang="en">Climate Change</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/forestry" hreflang="en">Forestry</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/forests" hreflang="en">Forests</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/john-h-daniels-faculty-architecture" hreflang="en">John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Two şüŔęĘÓƵ professors are among the scientists leading the&nbsp;Wildland Fire Research Network –&nbsp;a new, Canada-wide coalition of seven forest-fire researchers at six different academic institutions.</p> <p><img class="migrated-asset" src="/sites/default/files/david-martell-patrick-james-2.jpg" alt>Professor Emeritus <strong>David Martell </strong>and<strong>&nbsp;</strong>Associate Professor <strong>Patrick James</strong>, both&nbsp;of the John H. Daniels Faculty of Landscape, Architecture, and Design's forestry department, have been tapped to play key roles in the new network, which aims to&nbsp;increase&nbsp;Canada's&nbsp;expertise in wildland fire science.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>As part of the initiative, James and Martell will have access to new funding earmarked specifically for the purpose of training new master's, PhD, and post-doctoral students in forest-fire research techniques. The federal government said it would be partnering with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to provide $5 million for the creation the&nbsp;Wildland Fire Research Network.</p> <p>“I have three new PhD students who have already signed on, and there will be more in the future,” James says. “Without this grant I wouldn't have had the financial means to take on these students. It's a huge boost to our forestry group.”</p> <p>James is a specialist in landscape-scale forest disturbance processes, including the destruction wrought by the spruce budworm and the mountain pine beetle&nbsp;– insects whose fecundity and voracious feeding habits make them capable of killing vast swaths of Canadian forests&nbsp;(the dry, dead trees they leave behind can act as tinder when exposed to fire).</p> <p>Martell is co-director, with <strong>Mike Wotton</strong>, of&nbsp;the Fire Management Systems Laboratory. He studies new techniques for detecting and managing forest fires.</p> <p>An increase in the number of trainees isn't the only benefit for the U of T researchers. “It's not just about increasing the number of students,” Martell says. “It's about increasing the breadth of expertise of people who are interested in fires.”</p> <p>By drawing on the varied backgrounds and institutional connections of the network's participants, students will be able to study forest fires from the perspectives of different disciplines, including ecology, physics, chemistry&nbsp;and the social sciences.</p> <p>Students from across the new research network will also&nbsp;have opportunities to meet each other and form valuable professional connections. “The most important thing we're going to do is have 'summer schools,’” Martell says. “We’re going to bring our graduate students together. Students will make presentations, and we'll bring in professors to give talks – but, most importantly, the students will start to network with each other.”</p> <p>The&nbsp;end result will be a new generation of highly qualified researchers and professionals with the skills, knowledge&nbsp;and interpersonal connections necessary to protect Canada's forests and forest-adjacent communities for decades to come.</p> <p>The infusion of money into Canadian forest-fire research comes at an opportune moment: With climate change continuing unabated, scientists expect forest fires to become more frequent and more severe. According to federal government statistics, there are approximately 8,000 fires in Canadian forests each year.</p> <p>Although fires can be a natural and healthy part of a forest's lifecycle, they pose a threat to human safety when they approach what's known as the wildland-urban interface –&nbsp;the border between the natural world and dense human settlements. Recent disasters like the&nbsp;2016 Fort McMurray&nbsp;wildfire and the&nbsp;2011 Slave Lake wildfire&nbsp;have demonstrated the potential costs of a lack of investment in forest-fire research and control.</p> <p>“This grant is a response to those events, and a recognition that we need more people to work on these problems,” Martell says.</p> <hr> <p><strong>Here's the list of researchers who will be leading the Wildland Fire Research Network:</strong></p> <p>Mike Flannigan, University of Alberta</p> <p>Lori Daniels, University of British Columbia</p> <p>Laura Chasmer, University of Lethbridge</p> <p>Douglas Woolford, Western University</p> <p>Mike Waddington, McMaster University</p> <p>Patrick James, şüŔęĘÓƵ</p> <p>David Martell, şüŔęĘÓƵ</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 08 Jul 2020 19:31:06 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 165302 at Canadian and European boreal forests differ but neither is immune to climate change, says U of T researcher /news/boreal-forest-research <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Canadian and European boreal forests differ but neither is immune to climate change, says U of T researcher</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2016-11-08-borealforest.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=LM9O2d5g 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2016-11-08-borealforest.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=_1YmHpLA 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2016-11-08-borealforest.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=YkCxR1zo 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2016-11-08-borealforest.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=LM9O2d5g" alt="Photo of Canada's Yukon"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-11-11T15:38:13-05:00" title="Friday, November 11, 2016 - 15:38" class="datetime">Fri, 11/11/2016 - 15:38</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Boreal forest near Kluane Lake Research Station in Yukon (photo by Sophia Lavergne)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/don-campbell" hreflang="en">Don Campbell</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Don Campbell</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/forests" hreflang="en">Forests</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-scarborough" hreflang="en">U of T Scarborough</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/canada" hreflang="en">Canada</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/scandinavia" hreflang="en">Scandinavia</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong>Rudy Boonstra</strong> has been doing field research in Canada’s north for more than 40 years.</p> <p>Working mostly out of the Arctic Institute’s Kluane Lake Research Station in Yukon, the U of T Scarborough biology professor has become intimately familiar with Canada’s vast and unique boreal forest ecosystem.</p> <p>But it was during a trip to Finland in the mid-1990s to help a colleague with field research that he began to think long and hard about why the boreal forest there differed so dramatically from its Canadian cousin. This difference was crystallized by follow-up trips to Norway.</p> <p>“Superficially they look the same. Both are dominated by coniferous trees with similar low density deciduous trees like aspen. But that’s where the similarities end,” he says. &nbsp;</p> <p>The real differences are most obvious on the ground, notes Boonstra. In Canada, the ground is dominated by tall shrubs like willow and birch but in the northwestern European forests found in Norway, Finland and Sweden the ground is dominated by dwarf shrubs like bilberry.</p> <p>“The reason for the difference comes down to different climates,” he says.</p> <p>It also goes without saying that global warming will have an effect on vegetation and the species that rely on the boreal forest, adds Boonstra.</p> <p>“The data is still coming in but there are indications that this ecosystem is shifting and it could potentially be a massive shift,” he says, pointing to changes in the global carbon cycle and the predator-prey dynamics.</p> <p>Boreal forest covers an incredible 50 per cent of Canada’s land mass and has evolved quite differently from the boreal forests of Northwestern Europe say Boonstra, who co-authored&nbsp;the book&nbsp;<a href="http://www.oupcanada.com/catalog/9780195133936.html">Ecosystem Dynamics of the Boreal Forest</a>.</p> <p>The winters in the Canadian boreal forest are drier and 15 to 20C colder, with snow that is soft and shallow. In Northwestern Europe the winter is more mild and wet by comparison with deep snow that packs harder. The milder European winters are driven mainly by westerly winds from North America that dip into the Caribbean and carry warm air across the Atlantic.</p> <p>The difference in climate means the plant and animal species in both forests have evolved along two very different paths. The Canadian system is dominated by the extreme cold tolerant tall shrubs and the 10-year snowshoe hare and Canadian lynx cycle.</p> <p>On the other hand, the forests in northwestern Europe are dominated by cold intolerant dwarf shrubs and a three to four-year cycle of small rodent and weasels that live below the snow. It also has a higher density of larger animals like Moose.</p> <p><img alt="head shot photo of Boonstra" class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__2430 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" src="/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/Boonstra-1.jpg?itok=pAR0QCZ0" style="width: 339px; height: 453px; float: left; margin: 10px;" typeof="foaf:Image">“Predators have evolved to the prey, and the prey have evolved to the vegetation in both places,” adds Boonstra.</p> <p>Boonstra and his colleagues looked at a host of other potential factors to explain the differences between these forests including human activity, density of large mammals and other predators, but the deciding factor came down to climate.</p> <p>The research, which included collaboration from researchers across Canada and Norway, was published in the journal <em>BioScience</em> and received funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Norwegian Science Council.</p> <p>Boreal forests are important ecological zones because they cover 11 per cent of the Earth’s total land surface and make up 25 per cent of the Earth’s closed canopy forests, which are continuous, uninterrupted forest systems.</p> <p>These forests play a key role in the global carbon cycle that allows the Earth to be capable of sustaining life.</p> <p>“There’s no question that a shift in snow consistency and temperature will impact this immense ecosystem,” adds Boonstra.&nbsp; &nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 11 Nov 2016 20:38:13 +0000 ullahnor 102379 at