Western Maine Audubon will sponsor a free live webinar event featuring a talk by Forest Ecologist Andrew Barton at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11.

UMF Professor Barton describes how Maine forests have changed over the past several centuries in terms of tree species, forest structure, and the replacement of old growth with younger forests. He will highlight the ecological importance of older forests and some of the exciting strategies for conservation and restoration of these important habitats.

Barton is a forest ecologist, science writer, and professor of biology at the University of Maine at Farmington. His research focuses on how forests are responding to changing climate, and wildfires in the mountains of the USA-Mexico borderlands. His current projects focus on an endangered plant species in the region, and the employment of the new ECOSTRESS instrument on the International Space Station to predict vegetation drought stress and recovery after wildfires.

He is the author of the award-winning book, “The Changing Nature of the Maine Woods, and Ecology and Recovery of Old-growth Forests in Eastern North America” from Island Press. Barton co-founded the Michigan National Forest Watch and the UMF Sustainable Campus Coalition and was a key player in the Mt. Blue-Tumbledown Conservation Alliance, which protected 30,000 acres of forestland in western Maine. He teaches courses on ecology, conservation, plants, and forests, as well as a travel course on the ecology of Costa Rica.

To register, visit western.maineaudubon.org.