The course will provide an introduction to old forests, including their forms, functions, and inhabitants. Each day will explore an old forest field site in Northern Vermont, combined with time back at NBNC to share slides and discuss concepts in a classroom setting. We’ll decide whether an old forest needs to have old trees, and in what circumstances they might not. We’ll explore recently published scientific literature working towards revealing their mysteries. We’ll discuss the tools that conservationists use to protect our remaining old forests, and some of the new technology being used to locate them. And we’ll explore the basics of carbon accounting, tree measurements, and consider what we might be getting wrong when we look at carbon statistics.

Part of NBNC’s Biodiversity University series