Green-up in the Alaska Boreal Forest

Speakers: Rick Thoman (Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy), Jan Dawe (OneTree) and Susan Harry (University of Alaska Fairbanks)

Spring in Alaska means important happenings in the boreal forest. Sap starts flowing in birch trees, leading to tapping and turning the sap into delicious treats. Green-up, when leaves burst forth from Alaska’s deciduous trees, has important implications for the seasonal ecology, society and even meteorology in the state. It is rapidly followed by pollen release, which is a health issue for many Alaskans. Fairbanks has a unique multi-decadal record of green-up dates that’s been used to develop a technique for forecasting green-up and related events in the Interior and more broadly in the boreal forest regions in Alaska. This webinar will be the sixth annual review of the green-up forecasting tools and will provide a look-ahead at green-up for Spring 2025. One Tree will demonstrate citizen science-outreach tools for birch tappers and others.