Time for another episode of cool things happening in the world of environmental research. Today, we have a project that is helping us better understand the forests. The tool being used for this project? Lasers!
Researchers from the University of Gottingen have been looking into the many different kinds of structures that exist in forests around the world. Using 3D laser scanners, they went all over the globe, recording 3D models of the forests they visited over the span of two years. One of the things they specifically focused on was primeval forests; those that haven’t had their development affected by humans. Believe it or not that is still about 30% of the world’s forests. One of the things these researchers hope to accomplish by doing this is to better understand how humans affect forest development by comparing and contrasting the different structures to be found in ancient forests and those that have been altered by human activity.
This looks to be very good research. For maybe the first time, scientists are doing a study into how humans affect forest development using an actual control group. Before, we had really only been comparing past information on a given forest with what is happening now. There is nothing wrong with that and it can still be very useful, but it can be very difficult to say with certainty how things might have been different. Now, with these 3D models that have been created, being used in conjunction with satellite data, researchers can find two areas of a similar forest structure and climate, one that has been affected by people and one that has not. Then they can be tracked over a period of time to observe how their development diverges. For perhaps the first time ever, they will be able to track two similar forest structures over a period of time, providing us with excellent information on the environment and our impact on it.
Is that really possible? Isn’t most of the primeval forest actually rainforest in the south of the world and the human influenced stuff the boreal forests in the north? Not as much as you would think. There is plenty of rainforest in Brazil that has been affected by commercial development and there are other rainforests in North America in the states of Washington and Alaska that a person could wander in for days and not find a trace of humanity. There is plenty of boreal forest in the North American and Northern Asia that is also untouched by humans. People don’t realize how many millions of acres are actually protected from any kind of development.
There are of course different levels of development as well. Some areas of forest are surrounded by heavy human development, some have small towns scattered within them. Others have been logged and replanted while others are crisscrossed with trails for various off road vehicles. Some of these forests have been developed in some way for decades, others for just a few years.
This new study is valuable precisely because using the researchers’ methods, it will be possible to track these various stages and types of development to actually see what the long term effects are. The results will be a huge help to understanding human impact on the environment and helping us learn the best ways to minimize it while still making it possible for people to have homes to live in as well get out and enjoy some of that nature we are talking about.
TARTLE would also like to commend the researchers on their use of our basic philosophy. They didn’t just rely on satellites and or reports from others. Instead, they did the hard work of going to the source and getting the primary data they needed to get the best possible results.
What’s your data worth?
Time for another episode of cool things happening in the world of environmental research. Today, we have a project that is helping us better understand the forests. The tool being used for this project? Lasers!
Speaker 3 (00:07):
Welcome to TARTLE Cast with your host Alexander McCaig and Jason Rigby, where humanity steps into the future and source data defines the path.
Alexander McCaig (00:24):
Ralph Waldo Emerson would love this episode. Nothing like a fine walk in the woods.
Jason Rigby (00:30):
When I think of primeval forest, I always think of darkness. And then, there's these cool ruins.
Alexander McCaig (00:36):
Oh, yeah.
Jason Rigby (00:37):
Symbols that are made out of twigs.
Alexander McCaig (00:39):
But, if there were ruins in it, human ruins, is not primeval, because at that point, then humans have interacted with that forest and actually altered its structure. So the idea of this primeval forest is what does a forest look like without the intervention or the interaction of the human element?
Alexander McCaig (00:59):
And so, to look at that forest complexity researchers are using lasers to generate data to rerender 3D models of the forest. And then, analyze that complexity of data to say, "Oh, here's the difference between a forest and a specific area, as opposed to one that maybe gets more or less rainfall. And what is the effect of climate change because of humans-
Jason Rigby (01:20):
Right.
Alexander McCaig (01:20):
affecting the growth and structure of that forest itself."
Jason Rigby (01:25):
Yeah. And they talk about in this article, in the very beginning, what the importance for biodiversity is. And it's mainly global carbon and water cycling.
Alexander McCaig (01:35):
Yeah. That's important, right, that water cycling? So the amount of precipitation that actually comes down and hits that forest is, they see a strong correlation in the data with the crowns of the trees and their heights, and the structures of those trees underneath those crowns are much more varying and complex.
Jason Rigby (01:57):
Yeah, because we always look at a forest as habitats for different types of species, we look at it that way. Instead of, they talk about the influences process of gas and energy exchange within the atmosphere.
Alexander McCaig (02:09):
Well, yeah, because if you have a higher complexity, more canopies, more things doing that process of photosynthesis and that carbon dioxide exchange, you want that. So if we as human beings are interrupting the natural equilibrium of the climate here on earth, and we're decreasing the amount of precipitation on these primeval forests, which manage a huge amount of that carbon dioxide exchange for us, that's a problem. Because if we decrease the complexity in essentially the strength of the structure of that forest, that's going to be more debilitating for us. And now we're going to increase the negative effects of climate change that would be happening here in the earth.
Jason Rigby (02:50):
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Alexander McCaig (02:51):
So the cool part about this is by using these lasers to render these forests in 3D, and see how that complex structure is directly affecting that sort of exchange in keeping a health for the species and the atmosphere itself, that's something that needs to be studied. And if water is a key driver, well then, we need to make sure that these places in areas that are in threat of receiving that rainfall that's required. I mean, I don't want to call it indirect, but it's more of a direct consequence of the bad choices we are making that are crippling a primeval forest that you don't even touch. You don't even walk through.
Jason Rigby (03:30):
Yeah. And they were talking about the places they went, and I thought this is really cool. To achieve this they spent two years traveling to remote primeval forest areas around the world to record the structure of the forest with the help, we talked about this, 3D laser scanners. Somebody got a 3D laser printer.
Alexander McCaig (03:47):
That's so cool.
Jason Rigby (03:47):
And it's just a scanning the whole environment. Remember Predator, how he scans?
Alexander McCaig (03:50):
Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, I remember that.
Jason Rigby (03:53):
Yeah. This allows important metrics to be calculated to describe the structure. They found that the global variability of far structures can be explained to a large extent by the amount of precipitation and that's by the availability of water in the different ecosystems.
Alexander McCaig (04:06):
Right.
Jason Rigby (04:06):
Higher the water higher, higher the complexity. Based on these findings and with the help of climate data, this is [inaudible 00:04:12] at TARTLE.
Alexander McCaig (04:13):
Yep.
Jason Rigby (04:14):
Were able to create maps of the world's far showing the global variability of structural complexity.
Alexander McCaig (04:19):
Which is cool. So not only do they have satellite mapping that they're taking for the changes and the variability, but they're also going into those forests and looking at those structures firsthand.
Jason Rigby (04:27):
Yeah. And so, they said that there's only 30% of the forests in the world that are-
Alexander McCaig (04:33):
Primeval.
Jason Rigby (04:33):
primeval. Yeah. And so, long-term goal of this research, which I love, is to better understand how human influence and climate change is affecting the forest. So you have two data points.
Alexander McCaig (04:43):
Yeah.
Jason Rigby (04:44):
Okay. We were looking at 30%, and then we can judge the 70% off the 30%, by getting first party data.
Alexander McCaig (04:52):
Yeah. And they're going into the woods.
Jason Rigby (04:54):
Yeah. They're actually going there, seeing something that's untouched.
Alexander McCaig (04:57):
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jason Rigby (04:58):
That's natural in its perfect pristine environment.
Alexander McCaig (05:02):
And they're not taking this big third party view from a satellite.
Jason Rigby (05:04):
Yeah, exactly.
Alexander McCaig (05:05):
They're using that observational data plus the firsthand data from the forest.
Jason Rigby (05:09):
And then, they're making that, they're not creating a bias.
Alexander McCaig (05:12):
No.
Jason Rigby (05:12):
Because they have a pure data coming from a forest that's been untouched. The only thing that can touch it would be climate change.
Alexander McCaig (05:18):
Yes.
Jason Rigby (05:19):
But other than that, there may be a few humans walking in there, but other than that, it's not [crosstalk 00:05:24] getting logged and all that stuff.
Alexander McCaig (05:25):
Yeah.
Jason Rigby (05:26):
Yeah, commercial space. And then, from there you can take that, make that the reference point. And then start looking at... Like where I'm from Washington state, with tons of logging practices, now they can take the Pacific Northwest, which a lot of people don't realize is the little horn on Washington state. They lose planes in there and never find them.
Alexander McCaig (05:46):
Yeah.
Jason Rigby (05:47):
So the Olympic Peninsula it's crazy.
Alexander McCaig (05:49):
Packed.
Jason Rigby (05:49):
Yeah. I mean the whole part is, there's no one lives there.
Alexander McCaig (05:51):
There's precipitous rainfall there all the time.
Jason Rigby (05:53):
Yeah. You have a rain forest up there, the Hoh Rain Forest.
Alexander McCaig (05:56):
People don't even realize, even a lot of Alaska's rain forest. Yeah.
Jason Rigby (05:58):
Yeah. People don't realize that.
Alexander McCaig (06:00):
Hello. Yeah.
Jason Rigby (06:00):
So I mean, messing with that equals-
Alexander McCaig (06:02):
Not just the Amazon.
Jason Rigby (06:03):
could you imagine messing with that rain forest and watching it [inaudible 00:06:03]. I mean, luckily it's very wild and cool. But so, particular focus here is the question, how changes in precipitation patterns due to climate change affect the structure of the forest.
Alexander McCaig (06:18):
Yeah.
Jason Rigby (06:18):
So, which I think is really cool because now with the 3D, you can see the variability of structures.
Alexander McCaig (06:24):
Yeah, it decreases and your weaken the structure.
Jason Rigby (06:27):
The importance of water for the formation of complex forest structures can be explained by various interacting mechanisms. So this is cool. The availability of water is an important driver of the diversity of tree species, of course, because there's just like a straw.
Alexander McCaig (06:39):
Yeah.
Jason Rigby (06:39):
That's what I always picture, sucking up water.
Alexander McCaig (06:41):
Yeah.
Jason Rigby (06:41):
The more tree species a forest holds, the more pronounced is the coexistence of different crown shapes and size of trees, which you talked about.
Alexander McCaig (06:48):
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jason Rigby (06:49):
This means that the space developed for the crown trees can often be utilized more efficiently in species, rich forest, which makes a far structure more complex. So more variety of trees you have-
Alexander McCaig (06:57):
Yes.
Jason Rigby (06:58):
the more variety of brush and the layers that you have of that, that's what makes it rain forest so beautiful. You can go from 100 feet in the air all the way, and then even in each of those little layers, there's even different types of creatures that live in, stay in that realm.
Alexander McCaig (07:12):
It's diversity of life. I'd be bummed out just seeing... imagine if we were stuck on just one tree.
Jason Rigby (07:16):
Yes. Yeah, exactly.
Alexander McCaig (07:17):
Just one damn type of tree. What if it was just a Coconut Palm.
Jason Rigby (07:20):
Right.
Alexander McCaig (07:20):
I'd be like, "I can't stare at that all day long."
Jason Rigby (07:23):
Yeah. And they said forest with high structural complexity can also be found in temperate zones. And that's what they're talking about, the high rainfall of Pacific Northwest, coastal forests of Chile. The results of this study are an important starting point for further work. And I love this. Because this-
Alexander McCaig (07:38):
This is foundational.
Jason Rigby (07:39):
Yes.
Alexander McCaig (07:40):
We talk about this all the time, is that first party data allows for a proper foundation to really kick your research off.
Jason Rigby (07:47):
Yeah. And so, what they're saying is, they're saying as we get more money for this study, not only can we go into the forest and study this. But then, we'll be able to use satellite 3D imaging and look at it from that, too. And then see the-
Alexander McCaig (07:59):
Yeah.
Jason Rigby (07:59):
see the disparities.
Alexander McCaig (08:01):
That's like TARTLE, you have people integrating their API calls, right? With their Fitbit and everything, all this other stuff, third party. And then, they do their first party stuff where you come and you learn from them directly. You marry both of those data sets together, now you have something very important. And beyond that as a metaphor, what should be really focused on here is the fact that it doesn't matter where you are on the globe, you have an effect on these forests and there's not much left of them.
Jason Rigby (08:27):
Right.
Alexander McCaig (08:28):
But they're very important to that oxygen exchange, that carbon dioxide and oxygen exchange. We need that.
Jason Rigby (08:33):
Yeah. And shout out to everyone doing forest management.
Alexander McCaig (08:36):
Yeah.
Jason Rigby (08:36):
And I know here in the United States, because I've seen that in Washington state. And I know there's different political views and stuff like that, but at the end of the day, we know we have a climate stability problem. And how can we as humans, even if we're going in there and logging, because we need wood and stuff like that, but how can we create stability with us interacting with nature?
Alexander McCaig (09:00):
That's a great question. And listen, if we can decrease that carbon footprint.
Jason Rigby (09:05):
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Alexander McCaig (09:05):
Okay. From all that stuff we're consuming. Well, you don't have to physically go out and plant a tree. You can allow it to regrow itself. Leave it alone. Right? Let it move back into equilibrium. But we're just knocking it out at equilibrium right now.
Jason Rigby (09:18):
Yeah. Constantly. It's just service to ourselves.
Alexander McCaig (09:22):
Yeah.
Jason Rigby (09:22):
Constantly. And then, we're taking from the environment never giving back.
Alexander McCaig (09:26):
Right. So if you want to start fixing these things, share data, earn money, change your world.
Jason Rigby (09:29):
How do we do that?
Alexander McCaig (09:30):
You go to tartle.co. You sign up. And then, once you do it, you start populating that data, your thoughts, linking up all those systems that you use. And then from that, share the data, earn your money, change your world.
Jason Rigby (09:42):
What if I want to not earn my money and I want to give to climate stability?
Alexander McCaig (09:45):
Right. Share data, earn money, donate that money, change your world. All those things can be done on TARTLE.
Jason Rigby (09:50):
Tartle.co.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Thank you for listening to TARTLE Cast with your hosts, Alexander McCaig and Jason Rigby, where humanity steps into the future, and source data defines the path. What's your data worth?
