Mathematics Awareness Month - April 2013
Mathematics of Sustainability

Trees

Lumber is used to build houses and, in many parts of the world, as a fuel source and provides employment to many workers. Trees absorb carbon from the air and thus provide a counter weight to the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels. So if we harvest too many trees, we will loss this important carbon sink and the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will rise yet higher contributing to climate change. In general, forest are important ecosystems for many plants and animals. Resource management professionals use mathematical models, building on the logistic equation, to determine how best to manage renewable resources like timber.

For example, the Amazon is a diverse ecosystem that many indigenous people rely on for a living.  How do we balance the needs of those that want the lumber or want to convert the forest into agriculture land, the ecosystem service of a carbon sink the Amazon provides, and the needs of the indigenous people that rely on the Amazon?

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