The FunTree field campaign

Students and researchers from more than 30 institutions have come together during the FunTree Field Campaign to collect tree data across Canada and some regions of the US.

The FunTree initiative is a collaborative field campaign led by Theme 1 lead Isabelle Aubin (NRCan-CFS) and the Post Doctoral Fellow Morgane Dendoncker (Université du Québec en Outaouais) that aims to collect data to refine our knowledge of tree vulnerability to climate change.

Several of our tree species in Canada have a wide subcontinental distribution spanning large environmental gradients leading to large variation in their traits. These variations are important to consider in the assessment of Canadian forest vulnerability to climate change, but also to understand tree capacity to adapt to climate change. However, it is rarely considered due to lack of data, especially for non-commercial tree species.  

The data collected will be used to develop needed knowledge on tree sensitivity to drought by evaluating intra-specific variability of key traits across a precipitation and temperature gradient.  

The data will also be gathered in a high-quality dataset on Canadian tree species, which will be turn integrated to DIVERSE vegetation dynamics models and forest vulnerability assessments.  

The collected data will also be put into the TOPIC and TRY databases to foster and support future research projects.