Giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) in the UK: carbon storage potential and growth rates

Welcome to today's seminar. I am Emilia Villanova, the chair for this session. I work with the Forest and Climate Change Program at the Wildlife Conservation Society, focusing on forest carbon and ecological integrity. Before we begin, please keep yourself on mute and type any questions or comments in the chat box. This session is being recorded, but only the speakers will appear in the recording.

This seminar is part of a series where authors and editors discuss Ecology and evolution based on articles published in journals such as Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Biology Letters, and the Journal of the Royal Society Interface and Royal Society Open Science. If you haven't already, please register on the Cassini platform to watch previous talks and receive alerts for upcoming seminars.

Today's speaker is Matt Disney, a professor of Geography at the National Centre for Earth Observation in the UK. His research focuses on measuring and understanding trees and forests using new 3D measurements, particularly for carbon measurement and predicting responses to climate change. He will discuss a recent paper on Giant sequoias in the UK.

Before I hand it over to Matt, I want to share a personal connection to this topic. I spent two years working in the Mex Conifer forest in California, where I saw the magnificent Giant sequoias in their native habitat. This seminar is particularly relevant for conservation efforts, given the decline of these trees due to fires and climate change.

Now, I'll pass it to Matt for his presentation. Thank you for the introduction, Emilia. I will now share my screen and begin my talk. Let's address any connectivity issues with animations.