Shaping forest safety nets with markets: Adaptation to climate change under changing roles of tropical forests in Congo Basin

2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 498-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johnson Nkem ◽  
Fobissie B. Kalame ◽  
Monica Idinoba ◽  
Olufunso A. Somorin ◽  
Ousseynou Ndoye ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Congo Basin ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Safety Nets ◽  
Changing Roles

Changes in the potential distribution of humid tropical forests on a warmer planet

2011 ◽  
Vol 369 (1934) ◽  
pp. 137-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Przemyslaw Zelazowski ◽  
Yadvinder Malhi ◽  
Chris Huntingford ◽  
Stephen Sitch ◽  
Joshua B. Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
General Circulation Models ◽  
Congo Basin ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Plant Water ◽  
The Impact

The future of tropical forests has become one of the iconic issues in climate-change science. A number of studies that have explored this subject have tended to focus on the output from one or a few climate models, which work at low spatial resolution, whereas society and conservation-relevant assessment of potential impacts requires a finer scale. This study focuses on the role of climate on the current and future distribution of humid tropical forests (HTFs). We first characterize their contemporary climatological niche using annual rainfall and maximum climatological water stress, which also adequately describe the current distribution of other biomes within the tropics. As a first-order approximation of the potential extent of HTFs in future climate regimes defined by global warming of 2 ° C and 4 ° C, we investigate changes in the niche through a combination of climate-change anomaly patterns and higher resolution (5 km) maps of current climatology. The climate anomalies are derived using data from 17 coupled Atmosphere–Ocean General Circulation Models (AOGCMs) used in the Fourth Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change. Our results confirm some risk of forest retreat, especially in eastern Amazonia, Central America and parts of Africa, but also indicate a potential for expansion in other regions, for example around the Congo Basin. The finer spatial scale enabled the depiction of potential resilient and vulnerable zones with practically useful detail. We further refine these estimates by considering the impact of new environmental regimes on plant water demand using the UK Met Office land-surface scheme (of the HadCM3 AOGCM). The CO 2 -related reduction in plant water demand lowers the risk of die-back and can lead to possible niche expansion in many regions. The analysis presented here focuses primarily on hydrological determinants of HTF extent. We conclude by discussing the role of other factors, notably the physiological effects of higher temperature.

scholarly journals Tropical forests and adaptation to climate change: in search of synergies

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robledo C. ◽  
Kanninen M. ◽  
Pedroni L. ◽  
eds.
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change

Building regional priorities in forests for development and adaptation to climate change in the Congo Basin

2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis J. Sonwa ◽  
Johnson N. Nkem ◽  
Monica E. Idinoba ◽  
Mekou Y. Bele ◽  
Cyprain Jum
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Congo Basin ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change
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