What is W&W Stewardship Science?
W&W Stewardship Science is a forest monitoring program specifically designed for the landowner of New England. The W&W Stewardship Science Manual and associated resources, below, provide an accessible, step-by-step approach to monitoring forests that landowners can use to track changes in their woods over time. Stewardship Science also connects people to a central database so that they can be an integral part of a larger regional effort to understand our forests. Results from this “citizen-science” forest monitoring program can inform New England landowners about:
- Long-term changes in the composition, structure, and carbon storage of protected wildlands and woodlands
- Impacts and effectiveness of a variety of management objectives on forests
- The response of forests to a range of natural disturbances
Our project goals:
- Create a straight-forward, user-friendly approach that will inspire a diversity of forest landowners (e.g., land trusts conservation commissions, academic institutions, foresters, teachers) to engage in systematic data collection on conserved forestlands.
- Connect forest practitioners and conservation groups to a shared online database that can broaden understanding, inspire collaborations, and inform management decisions locally and across the region.
Resources:
- Forest Monitoring Manual Low resolution: Wildlands and Woodlands Stewardship Science: Manual For Long-Term Forest Monitoring
- Forest Monitoring Manual High resolution: Wildlands and Woodlands Stewardship Science: Manual For Long-Term Forest Monitoring
- Two-page summary — coming soon
- Field Data Sheet
- Forest Monitoring Step-by-Step Field Checklist
- Background Paper: Wildlands and Woodlands Science Long-Term Forest Measurements for Ecological and Conservation Insights
- Online Database
Become a Stewardship Science Regional Representative
If you are an ecologist, forester, naturalist (or similarly knowledgeable), you can become a regional representative to assist other study participants. Duties are flexible depending on your preference, but can include:
- Answering e-mails for project questions
- Assisting study participant with field methodology.
- Some travel to a new project for on-site assistance
This can be a particularly fruitful project for an academic institution that would like to be part of meaningful, local conservation and to set up projects for students over time.
Contact Information
Highstead coordinates W&W Stewardship Science in collaboration with scientists from the Harvard Forest, Brandeis University, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Massachusetts. For more information: contact Highstead Ecologist Ed Faison,