Adapting forest ecosystems to climate change by identifying the range of acceptable human interventions in western Canada

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (5) ◽  
pp. 553-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly Moshofsky ◽  
Haris R. Gilani ◽  
Robert A. Kozak
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
The Other ◽  
Assisted Migration ◽  
Cultural Cognition ◽  
Management Scenarios ◽  
Management Interventions ◽  
Human Interventions ◽  
Perceived Acceptance

Forest management is presently undergoing major changes to adapt to climate change. This research examines the variation in perceived acceptability of potential forest management interventions that can mitigate the risks of climate change among rural forest-based communities in British Columbia and Alberta. In each of the four study communities, three focus groups composed of foresters, environmentalists, and local citizens were consulted. A Q-sort exercise was utilized to measure the perceived acceptance of a set of nine forest adaptation management scenarios that represented a spectrum of human interventions in forested ecosystems. The theory of Cultural Cognition of Risk was applied as a theoretical framework to analyze the way in which participants perceived adaptation strategies. Results indicate that foresters perceived the strategies based on assisted migration as being relatively less acceptable compared with the other social groups, while environmentalists prioritized adaptation strategies that featured mixed species, and local citizens perceived all of the adaptation strategies more neutrally. Cultural Cognition of Risk theory was determined to play a role in shaping perceptions of the adaptation strategies in that individualists tended to accept the local-based strategies while opposing the assisted migration based strategies. Conversely, hierarchists perceived assisted migration based strategies more favourably than the other cultural groups.

Wald und Klimawandel in der inneralpinen Trockenregion Visp

2012 ◽  
Vol 163 (12) ◽  
pp. 481-492
Author(s):  
Andreas Rigling ◽  
Ché Elkin ◽  
Matthias Dobbertin ◽  
Britta Eilmann ◽  
Arnaud Giuggiola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Forest Ecosystem ◽  
Bark Beetles ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Forest Monitoring ◽  
Management Interventions ◽  
Forest Ecosystem Services

Forest and climate change in the inner-Alpine dry region of Visp Over the past decades, observed increases in temperature have been particularly pronounced in mountain regions. If this trend should continue in the 21st Century, frequency and intensity of droughts will increase, and will pose major challenges for forest management. Under current conditions drought-related tree mortality is already an important factor of forest ecosystems in dry inner-Alpine valleys. Here we assess the sensitivity of forest ecosystems to climate change and evaluate alternative forest management strategies in the Visp region. We integrate data from forest monitoring plots, field experiments and dynamic forests models to evaluate how the forest ecosystem services timber production, protection against natural hazards, carbon storage and biodiver-sity will be impacted. Our results suggest that at dry low elevation sites the drought tolerance of native tree species will be exceeded so that in the longer term a transition to more drought-adapted species should be considered. At medium elevations, drought and insect disturbances as by bark beetles are projected to be important for forest development, while at high elevations forests are projected to expand and grow better. All of the ecosystem services that we considered are projected to be impacted by changing forest conditions, with the specific impacts often being elevation-dependent. In the medium term, forest management that aims to increase the resilience of forests to drought can help maintain forest ecosystem services temporarily. However, our results suggest that relatively rigid management interventions are required to achieve significant effects. By using a combination of environmental monitoring, field experiments and modeling, we are able to gain insight into how forest ecosystem, and the services they provide, will respond to future changes.

Future global crop production increases by adapting crop phenology to local climate change

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Minoli ◽  
Jonas Jägermeyr ◽  
Senthold Asseng ◽  
Christoph Müller
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Systematic Evaluation ◽  
Management Scenarios ◽  
Crop Phenology

<p>Broad evidence is pointing at possible adverse impacts of climate change on crop yields. Due to scarce information about farming management practices, most global-scale studies, however, do not consider adaptation strategies.</p><p>Here we integrate models of farmers' decision making with crop biophysical modeling at the global scale to investigate how accounting for adaptation of crop phenology affects projections of future crop productivity under climate change. Farmers in each simulation unit are assumed to adapt crop growing periods by continuously selecting sowing dates and cultivars that match climatic conditions best. We compare counterfactual management scenarios, assuming crop calendars and cultivars to be either the same as in the reference climate – as often assumed in previous climate impact assessments – or adapted to future climate.</p><p>Based on crop model simulations, we find that the implementation of adapted growing periods can substantially increase (+15%) total crop production in 2080-2099 (RCP6.0). In general, summer crops are responsive to both sowing and harvest date adjustments, which result in overall longer growing periods and improved yields, compared to production systems without adaptation of growing periods. Winter wheat presents challenges in adapting to a warming climate and requires region-specific adjustments to pre and post winter conditions. We present a systematic evaluation of how local and climate-scenario specific adaptation strategies can enhance global crop productivity on current cropland. Our findings highlight the importance of further research on the readiness of required crop varieties.</p>

scholarly journals Assisted migration: uncertainty, risk and opportunity

2012 ◽  
Vol 88 (04) ◽  
pp. 412-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Park ◽  
Carolyn Talbot
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Special Section ◽  
Public Knowledge ◽  
Assisted Migration ◽  
Ecological Aspects ◽  
The Future ◽  
Economic Trends ◽  
Future Warming ◽  
The Subject

The recent Forestry Chronicle special section on the subject of Assisted Migration (AM) did a great service to the Canadian forestry community by summarizing the risks, opportunities and ecological aspects of this forest management strategy. In this paper, we expand on some aspects of AM that were discussed in the special section, as well as discussing additional dimensions of AM that should be considered and debated. We expand on the theme of scientific uncertainties around future warming, emphasizing the full extent of uncertainty in estimates of climate sensitivity. We also expand upon and summarize a number of recent ecophysiological results that have implications for the adaptation and acclimation of trees to climate change. We also discuss opportunities for innovative forest management, the influence of economic trends on the future of the Canadian forest industry, and limitations on public knowledge of climate change, all of which are factors that will influence the feasibility of AM schemes in the future.

scholarly journals Identifying robust strategies for assisted migration in a competitive stochastic metacommunity

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory A. Backus ◽  
Marissa L. Baskett
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Dispersal Ability ◽  
Assisted Migration ◽  
Management Scenarios ◽  
Community Interactions ◽  
Competitive Model ◽  
Donor Population ◽  
Population Sizes

AbstractAssisted migration is the translocation of species beyond their historical range to locations that are expected to be more suitable under future climate change. However, a relocated population might fail to establish within its donor community if there is high uncertainty in decision making, climate, and interactions with the recipient ecological community. To quantify the benefit to persistence and risk of establishment failure of assisted migration under different management scenarios, we built a stochastic metacommunity model to simulate several species reproducing, dispersing, and competing on a temperature gradient as temperature increases over time. Without assisted migration, the species in our model were vulnerable to climate change if they had low population sizes, short dispersal, and strong poleword competition. When relocating species that exemplified these traits, assisted migration increased the long-term persistence of the species most when relocating a fraction of the donor population, even if the remaining population was very small or rapidly declining. This suggests that leaving behind a fraction of the population could be a robust approach, allowing managers to repeat assisted migration in case they move the species at the wrong place and wrong time, especially when it is difficult to identify a species’ optimal climate. We found that assisted migration was most beneficial to species with low dispersal ability and least beneficial to species with narrow thermal tolerances, for which assisted migration increased extinction risk on average. Lastly, while relocation did not affect the persistence of non-target species in our simple competitive model, researchers will need to consider a more complete set of community interactions to comprehensively understand invasion potential.

scholarly journals Forest Management and Adaptation Strategies in Response to Climate Change by the Taiwanese Public

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1056
Author(s):  
Wan-Yu Liu ◽  
Chien-Chen Wu ◽  
Shih-Yu Simon Wang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Forest Damage ◽  
Forest Owners ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

Forests account for 60% of lands in Taiwan. Climate change impacts forests in many aspects and is increasingly likely to undermine the ability of forests to provide basic ecosystem services. To help reduce the impact of climate change on Taiwan’s forests, people must be made aware of the relationship between climate change and forests. Based on questionnaires collected from 17 cities in Taiwan, this study applied spatial analysis to assess the respondents’ understanding of climate change and adaptation strategies for forest management. A total of 650 questionnaires were distributed and 488 valid ones were collected. The results show that (1) Most respondents believe that climate change is true and more than half of the respondents have experienced extreme weather events, especially extreme rainfall; (2) Most respondents believe that climate change will affect Taiwan’s forests with the majority recognizing the increasing impact of extreme events being the primary cause, followed by changes in the composition of tree species and the deterioration of forest adaptability due to climate change; (3) Most respondents expressed that forest management should be adjusted for climate change and called for measures being taken to establish mixed forests as well as monitoring forest damage; (4) In order to address the difficulties faced by forest owners on the impact of climate change, the majority of respondents felt that the government should raise forest owners’ understanding on climate change and adaptation policies, while the subsidy incentives must also be adjusted. The results of this study show that the respondents do realize the importance of climate change and forest management so much so their awareness in this matter led to their support for forest adaptation measures and policies.

scholarly journals Simulation de la structure optimale des hêtraies de protection contre les chutes de pierres | Simulation of the optimal structure of beech forests protecting against rockfall

2008 ◽  
Vol 159 (11) ◽  
pp. 396-405
Author(s):  
Françoise Vienne ◽  
Harald Bugmann ◽  
Andreas Zingg ◽  
Monika Frehner
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Tree Regeneration ◽  
Forest Growth ◽  
The Other ◽  
Beech Forests ◽  
Management Scenarios ◽  
Minimum Diameter ◽  
Protective Function ◽  
Management Interventions

Adequate management practices to attain the profiles specified in the Swiss guidelines for the management of mountain protection forests are not always unequivocally clear. This applies among others for beech forests that have a protective function against rockfall. We defined two management scenarios, one of which aims at harvesting trees starting with a minimum diameter at breast height of 40 cm, whereas the other one is focused on the creation of small gaps (area of 500 m2) over a maximum of 10% of the total stand area. These scenarios along with a control scenario characterized by no management were studied using the forest growth model BWINPro. In the control scenario, number of trees, basal area and standing volume were highest. The developments simulated under the two management scenarios were similar, when in scenario thinning harvesting levels corresponded to the growth over a 10-year period. In the other cases, number of trees, basal area and standing volume are lower under scenario gap because harvesting interventions occur more regularly. If the rocks have a volume exceeding 0.2 m3, the requirements of the profiles are attained more quickly under scenario gap, because in scenario thinning the larger trees are preferentially harvested. Because tree regeneration was not simulated, it is difficult to realistically predict the development of the number of trees. However, management interventions are needed in such forests, particularly if the profile for rocks with a volume below 0.2 m3 is to be attained and maintained.

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