Dr. Keith N. Musselman
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR)
University of Colorado Boulder

April 2nd, 2021, 12PM MDT

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https://cuboulder.zoom.us/j/91625308762
Meeting ID: 916 2530 8762
Passcode: 717776

Abstract

Most of the snow water resources that feed North America’s large rivers originate from forested land. Forest canopies greatly affect the snow on the ground. Forest cover intercepts snowfall that subsequently sublimates back to the atmosphere – a water resource that is never realized. At the same time, forest canopy shelters snow from wind and shades solar radiation, facilitating a persistent provision of meltwater late into the spring. In this talk, I present both empirical data and models to review how forest structure impacts snow and the critical consequences of climate change and forest structure degradation on the hydrology, meteorology and ecology of forests. The challenges and possibilities to inform adaptive response by forest management practitioners and the needs for robust, community-based predictive models are discussed.

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