Climate change can disrupt wildlife habitat and other natural amenities supported by land trusts and other conservation organizations. However, these organizations require good data upon which to base their land protection decisions. Marsh Institute Researcher Chris Williams (Geography) received funding from the Open Space Institute for the project “NFCMS Update and Carbon Assessment for Forest Conservation Planning and Action.” This project will update the National Forest Carbon Monitoring System (NFCMS) to establish a data timestamp for 2020, or the most recent possible date, in order to better represent contemporary carbon stocks and expected future sequestration. The project will ensure the dataset better represents present conditions viewed by users on the ground. Doing so will support greater applicability and build confidence from the user community.

For full project descriptions, see the Marsh Institute Research Projects web page.