Annick St-Denis
Universisté du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)
Christian Messier
Interests and Expertise
Functional diversity, urban forest, ecosystem servicesShort description of Project
SylvCiT: A decision support tool to increase functional diversity and improve the resilience of urban forests to global changes
A diverse urban forest is more resilient to global changes such as outbreaks of exotic insects, increased drought events or winter warmth. The forest will be more resilient if it is diverse not only in terms of number of species and structure, but also in terms of functional traits. Species with different biological characteristics (traits) are more likely to react differently to disturbances.
In collaboration with graduate students in computer science (under the supervision of Marie-Jean Meurs, UQAM), my project aims to contribute to the development of a new intelligent tool, SylvCiT, in order to improve the planning of tree plantations in the city. By using georeferenced tree inventories, the tool presents a portrait of the urban forest (specific richness, functional diversity, structure, carbon storage, etc.). Another module gives recommendations for species and functional groups to be favored in order to increase the diversity of the selected area and according to the user’s needs (for example, to promote carbon storage).
Short description of internship with partner
As part of my collaboration with Habitat, I am particularly interested in projects that touch on the valuation of ecosystem services, forest resilience, functional diversity, plantation planning and urban forestry plans.