Nature in Your Backyard: Forest Ecology 101 – Why Trees and Forests Grow Where They Do

SHARE
-
Online Only

About the Nature in Your Backyard Series 

a house with a tree and woodpecker

Owners of even just a few acres can make a positive difference in their environment through planning and implementing simple stewardship practices learned in The Nature in Your Backyard Series. This series of six online webinars and two field sessions is designed specifically (but not exclusively) for smaller landowners, with under 20 acres. Woodlots large and small can support wildlife, protect water quality, generate firewood and other forest products, and provide recreation and enjoyment. Whether you are interested in adding some native plants to your yard, enhancing habitat for birds, assessing the health of your trees, cutting trees for firewood, or just learning more about what’s around you, this series can help you become a better steward of your property. 

About this Session

New Hampshire is home to more than 80 native tree species and a variety of forest types, from the boreal spruce-fir forests of the White Mountains to the Appalachian oak-pine forests found in the southern part of the state. We’ll discuss how factors such as individual species adaptations, soils, topography, climate, natural disturbances, human land use history, and species interactions have shaped the forests we see today. With an understanding of the fundamentals of forest ecology and why trees grow where they do, you’ll be better equipped to evaluate and enhance the trees and forests in your backyard. Click here to register. 

Spring forest
Register
Contact

 

lindsay watkins headshot

Lindsay Watkins

Forest Resources Field Specialist, UNH Cooperative Extension

Lindsay is Extension’s County Forester for Strafford County and Belknap County. Before joining Extension in 2023, she worked as a consulting forester and arborist in the San Juan Islands in Washington, but she considers New Hampshire her "chosen home state." Prior to her detour to the upper left corner of the country, she worked for the Appalachian Mountain Club, the Nature Conservancy, and the US Forest Service. Lindsay has an M.S. from the Field Naturalist Program at the University of Vermont and a B.S. in Natural Resources from Cornell. She is also an ISA Certified Arborist and TCIA Certified Tree Care Safety Professional and considers herself a well-rounded "Professional Tree Nerd."  

 

ray headshot

Ray Berthiaume

Natural Resources Field Specialist, UNH Cooperative Extension

Ray is the Field Specialist in Natural Resources for UNH Cooperative Extension in Coös County.  Most refer to this position as County Forester. Ray works with private landowners, communities, and Natural Resource professionals to educate and provide resources to aid in managing their stewardship goals and objectives. Ray has a bachelor’s degree in forest engineering from the University of Maine and is currently working towards his master’s degree in education from Plymouth State University. In addition to working with landowners and offering ideas and direction with forest roads, trails, and structures, one of Ray’s passions is working with school students from all grades, to expose them to opportunities that abound in the natural world around us. 

Subjects