NEW YORK STATE — A group of private forest owners and managers recently came together to learn more about how they can enhance the biodiversity on their land.

But they didn’t meet in person. Instead, they participated in an online seminar sponsored by Cornell Cooperative Extension, as part of Cornell’s ForestConnect Internet Seminar Series. The owners listened to a speaker and asked questions online.

The interactive seminars began last May. Since then, more than 500 landowners and managers from 40 states and three countries have registered and are receiving announcements about the monthly webcasts. Last week’s talk on biodiversity proved popular, as did a discussion last month about restoring old growth forests.

Marilyn Wyman, a community development educator specializing in agriculture/natural resources at Cornell Cooperative Extension in Greene County, said private forest owners are generally interested in biodiversity — the richness and variety of animal, plant and other life in a given area — but sometimes less interested in managing their land. The seminar, which is available online at www.ForestConnect.info, taught that certain management techniques and strategies, such as selective tree cutting or building vernal pools where reptiles and amphibians can reproduce, can help promote biodiversity.

“[Private forest owners] make an assumption that if they just let things go, nature will do what it needs to do,” Wyman said. “That’s not always true.”

Getting information to private land owners isn’t easy, Wyman said. “Some landowners are seasonal,” she said. “Some don’t know about the resources available to them.”

“The name itself is tough,” Wyman said. “It sounds real technical and scientific, and I think sometimes that overwhelms people. … What we’re looking at is ecological health.”

Right now, Wyman noted, New York is seeing the regeneration of its forests, which is good. But landscape diversity is also important. Songbirds, she said, need open grassland to survive. Sometimes, “there’s a value to keeping fields open.” In other words, having trees everywhere isn’t a good way to promote biodiversity. “Maybe you should consider clearing a certain part of the forest so you can have the best habitat,” she said. “I’m not saying all logging is good, but logging can be a good forest management tool.”

Climate change and the surge in invasive species post a threat to biodiversity, Wyman said. “We’re trying to preserve biodiversity, but we’re also trying to predict how people should plan for the future,” she said. “There are lots of indications that it’s going to be a challenge.”

Environments with a high level of biodiversity tend to be healthier and better able to withstand change, said Rebecca Hargrave, a horticulture and natural resource educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chenango County.

“We’re losing different species of plants and animals because of human impact,” she said. “Globally, we definitely have a lot of extinction happening due to habitat loss.”

Much of this habitat loss is the result of development, improper land management and pollution, she said.

People who make a commitment to forest management know that they’ll never see the results of what they do, Wyman said.

She said it’s important for land owners to hire a good forester to manage their land, and Cornell Cooperative Extension provides guidance in how to determine who’s a good forester.

“It’s very difficult to know who is a good forester and who is a bad one,” she said. “A forester is your confidant, the person you trust to make those decisions.”

The ForestConnect Internet Seminars occur on the third Wednesday of each month. The initial broadcast is noon to 1 p.m., with a repeat live performance on the same day from 7 to 8 p.m. Participants must preregister at www.ForestConnect.info.

According to Cornell Cooperative Extension, the ForestConnect Internet Seminar Series was the first program of its kind in the United States.