Dr. Naomi Schwartz

Our lab’s research addresses questions about the causes and consequences of disturbance and extreme events in tropical forest landscapes. Climate and land-use change are already altering the frequency and intensity of disturbance and climate extremes. Can we predict which forests will be most vulnerable to these events? What are the processes that underlie spatial heterogeneity in forest responses to disturbance and climate extremes? How do these events shape forest landscapes? To address these themes, we use a variety of tools including remote sensing and GIS, forest censuses, plant functional trait measurements, and socio-economic surveys.