Dynamic Ecosystems and Landscapes Lab (Portland State University)
The DEAL Lab, led by Dr. Robert Scheller at Portland State University, is completing a project titled "Scenarios for Forest Reserve Expansion and Adaptive Management under Alternative Climate Change Scenarios in the northern Great Lakes." This project will assess how an expansion of forest reserves and climate-adaptive management may improve ecological connectivity and resilience under different climate scenarios. Restoring and maintaining ecological connectivity is one of the primary climate change adaptation strategies available to land managers, and this study will be integrated into an ongoing regional Climate Change Response Framework to link the results to land management throughout the Northwoods.
Collaborators include The Nature Conservancy, USDA Forest Service, and Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science. Funding for this project was granted by the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Landscape Conservation Cooperative. Robert Scheller and Matthew Duveneck are project leaders from the DEAL Lab.
The Dynamic Ecosystems and Landscapes Lab at Portland State University conducts research to discover what drives forest landscape change. Forest landscape change has the potential to radically alter the services and products that our natural environment can provide. Many processes drive this change, including land use, forest management, natural processes such as fire and insects, and a changing climate. We seek to better understand each of these processes in order to improve our understanding of potential future changes, the consequences, and management options.