Northeastern States Research Cooperative (NSRC) directors at the University of Vermont, University of New Hampshire, University of Maine, and State University of New York have announced 12 grants totaling nearly $2 million of federal funding and over $1 million of matching funding for forest research that will focus on areas of concern identified by practitioners in the Northern Forest region.

With funding from the U.S. Congress, collaboration with the USDA Forest Service, and advice from public and private sectors, NSRC-funded projects will investigate topics of regional scope and importance, deepen partnerships, and transform research results into practice.

“Our forests, including the Northern Forest, are a key part of the struggle to limit the effects of the climate crisis on both ecosystems and rural communities. At the same time, global climate change is already impacting our forests and the economies that often depend on them,” said Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT). “For most of the past 20 years, the universities and scientists that make up the Northeastern States Research Cooperative have helped us understand the Northern Forest ecosystem. I’m pleased by how this round of projects point to work that has evolved in response to the challenges to the ecosystem itself and the communities connected to it.”

Practitioners advise on research competition and project selection

An external advisory committee representing the communities, businesses, industries, and agencies in the Northern Forest region that contribute to and benefit from knowledge generated through NSRC-funded projects meets annually to suggest research topics and processes related to the NSRC research competition. 

Research topics span a range of concerns related to forest biodiversity and connectivity, climate change and energy, invasive pests and diseases, and recreation and tourism. The competition calls for projects that feature problem-driven, engaged research with solid communications to people living and working in the Northern Forest. Partnerships between researchers and practitioners are strongly encouraged, as are projects that aim to inform management and policy decisions in the next two-to-four years. The review process includes external academic and technical expert reviews and prioritization by a panel of practitioners from the Northern Forest.

The NSRC Congressional Authorization mandates that NSRC sponsor research to sustain the health of Northern Forest ecosystems and communities, develop new forest products, and improve forest biodiversity management. NSRC also supports an Indigenous Forest Knowledge Fund (IFKF) to address structural inequities in opportunity for Indigenous youth in forest research and invest in the cultural and intellectual sovereignty of Tribal forest traditions, alongside other forms of applied forest research. NSRC recently released a request for proposals for the 2022 IFKF competition.

“Research partnerships with our state institutions in the northern states have been beneficial to leveraging our collective research capabilities to address increasing risks to our forests with cutting edge science,” said Dr. Cynthia West, USFS Northern Research Station Director. “As forests face more extreme disturbances from invasive insects and pathogens, extreme weather events, as well as impacts from human activity, these partnerships are fundamental to help sustain the health and viability of the region’s forests.”

University of Vermont researcher leads regional forest adaptation research project

Researchers, led by Anthony D’Amato, of the University of Vermont (UVM) Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, will analyze more than 30 experiments and demonstrations in Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont to gain a better understanding of how forest adaptation strategies address emerging forest health and climate change impacts. Together with a UVM master’s student and undergraduate technician, they will examine forest structural, compositional, and functional outcomes of varying strategies to document forest management approaches that provide the greatest climate adaptation potential for northern hardwood, mixedwood, and spruce-fir ecosystems.

Through partnerships of UVM with federal, state, Tribal, private, and NGO forestry leaders, researchers will produce site-tailored recommendations on best forest adaptation practices.

“We are fortunate to have the opportunity to continue working with regional partners in co-producing applied science that addresses the grand challenge of sustaining the Northern Forest in the face of global change,” said D’Amato. “The funding from NSRC will be critical to advancing our understanding of the ecological outcomes of new forest adaptation strategies, and it will ensure our findings are relevant for forest managers and other partners.”

Twelve new research projects span four states

• Wildlife in the WUI: Investigating forest characteristics and impacts on mammalian diversity in the wildland-urban interface. Principal Investigator (PI) Daniel Bogan, Siena College
• Quantifying changes in forest condition, connectivity and resilience in the northeast using geospatial and remotely sensed data. PI Melissa Clark, The Nature Conservancy
• Trail forks and merges: Exploring social impacts from recreational mountain biking in northern forest communities. PI Kimberly Coleman, SUNY Plattsburgh
• Implementing forest adaptation options for Northern Forest ecosystems. PI Anthony D’Amato, University of Vermont
• Invasive pest effects on tree demographics across the northeastern US. PI Jeff Garnas, University of New Hampshire
• Investigating the role of mycorrhizal fungi in New England forest management. PI Caitlin Hicks Pries, Dartmouth College
• Jumping worm invasion and impact in the Northern Forest. PI Timothy McCay, Colgate University
• Monitoring in a changing world: Developing adaptive protocols for monitoring mammals as they respond to climate and land use change in the northeastern US. PI Alessio Mortelliti, University of Maine
• Effects of timber harvesting on the wetland ecology of Northeastern lowland forests. PI Christina Murphy, USGS Maine Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Unit, University of Maine
• Eastern White Pine health monitoring through remote sensing assessment of foliar traits. PI Parinaz Rahimzadeh-Bajgiran, University of Maine
• Oak at the edge: Investigating the importance of fire as a tool in oak range expansion. PI Matthew Vadeboncoeur, University of New Hampshire
• Impacts of extreme climate events on tree regeneration in the Northern Forest. PI Jay Wason, University of Maine

About the Northeastern States Research Cooperative

The Northeastern States Research Cooperative is a competitive grant program for Northern Forest research, authorized by federal legislation, with allocations to the program directed by the USDA Forest Service. Since its inception, NSRC has funded more than 345 projects, engaging 50 different institutions, agencies, and organizations across the Northeast.

NSRC is jointly directed through the USDA Forest Service’s Northern Research Station and a designated institution in each of the four Northern Forest States (Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont, University of New Hampshire in cooperation with the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation in New Hampshire, Center for Research on Sustainable Forests at the University of Maine, and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry).