Thanks to advances in technology, plant researchers no longer have to worry about “missing the forest for the trees.” Aerial imagery and drones are enabling researchers such as the University of Montreal’s Etienne Laliberté to map vegetation remotely and at high resolution over vast areas. The result is a precise portrait of plant diversity throughout the year and under all conditions.

According to Laliberté, climate change and biodiversity loss are not separate problems: “It is becoming increasingly clear that they are interconnected.”

To prevent or at least slow global warming, it is imperative that we reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Fortunately, nature has a way of removing CO₂ from the atmosphere: trees. We have to let plants “do what they’ve been doing for hundreds of millions of years,” says Laliberté: absorbing CO₂ and storing it. “We need to measure how much carbon is stored in plants and then increase it by restoring degraded ecosystems and changing forestry practices.”

Laliberté has devoted the past 15 years to research. “I want to continue doing research but I also feel the urgent need to act,” he says. “The situation is deteriorating fast and we need to find ways to use existing knowledge to optimize our solutions to climate change.” Our survival is inextricably linked to that of the planet’s ecosystems.