There is a growing consensus that management decisions need to consider how actions either enhance or detract from a forest’s potential to adapt to changing climate. Uncertainty regarding the specifics of future climate conditions increases this need.
Likely Changes
Although climate is changing globally, changes in temperature, precipitation, and atmospheric composition will vary over time and among continents, among regions, and locally. Climate changes will modify the environment and cause disturbances affecting forest communities. If these modifications override the adaptive capacity of the forest ecosystem, these forests and the goods and services they provide are vulnerable.
Silvicultural approaches to climate adaptation will be effective when they focus on stress factors that pose the greatest risks to forests. An awareness of how environmental stresses result in altered tree vigor and stand dynamics is critical to understanding these risks, including:
- Which physiological and developmental processes are most sensitive to a particular stress or suite of stressors?
- How do changes in these sensitive processes affect the survival, growth and productivity of individual trees and stands?
- At what temporal and spatial scales do stressors act and forests respond?
- What are the consequences for various goods and services expected from forests?
Anderson, P.; Palik, B. 2011. Silviculture for Climate Change. (October, 2011). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Climate Change Resource Center. www.fs.usda.gov/ccrc/topics/silviculture
