Central Hardwoods ecosystem vulnerability assessment and synthesis: a report from the Central Hardwoods Climate Change Response Framework project

Brandt, Leslie A.; He, Hong S.; Iverson, Louis R.; Thompson, Frank R.; Butler, Patricia R.; Handler, Stephen D.; Janowiak, Maria K.; Shannon, P. Danielle; Swanston, Chris; Albrecht, Matthew A.; Blume-Weaver, Richard; Deizman, Paul; DePuy, John; Dijak, William D.; Dinkel, Gary; Fei, Songlin; Jones-Farrand, D. Todd; Leahy, Michael J.; Matthews, Stephen N.; Nelson, Paul; Oberle, Brad; Perez, J. Reyes; Peters, Matthew P.; Prasad, Anantha; Schneiderman, Jeffrey E.; Shuey, John A.; Smith, Adam B.; Studyvin, Charles; Tirpak, John M.; Walk, Jeffery W.; Wang, Wen J.; Watts, Laura; Weigel, Dale R.; Westin, Steve.

doi:10.2737/nrs-gtr-124

Cited by 63 publications

(42 citation statements)

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“…The vulnerability and risk for individual species under multiple climate change scenarios has also shown potential for substantial change [74,75]. An extensive study was performed on central hardwood ecosystems [76] using three different models: Climate Change Tree Atlas, LANDIS PRO, and LINKAGES. All showed significant changes in species composition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential Vegetation and Carbon Redistribution in Northern North America from Climate Change

Flanagan

Hurtt

Fisk

et al. 2016

Climate

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There are strong relationships between climate and ecosystems. With the prospect of anthropogenic forcing accelerating climate change, there is a need to understand how terrestrial vegetation responds to this change as it influences the carbon balance. Previous studies have primarily addressed this question using empirically based models relating the observed pattern of vegetation and climate, together with scenarios of potential future climate change, to predict how vegetation may redistribute. Unlike previous studies, here we use an advanced mechanistic, individually based, ecosystem model to predict the terrestrial vegetation response from future climate change. The use of such a model opens up opportunities to test with remote sensing data, and the possibility of simulating the transient response to climate change over large domains. The model was first run with a current climatology at half-degree resolution and compared to remote sensing data on dominant plant functional types for northern North America for validation. Future climate data were then used as inputs to predict the equilibrium response of vegetation in terms of dominant plant functional type and carbon redistribution. At the domain scale, total forest cover changed by~2% and total carbon storage increased by~8% in response to climate change. These domain level changes were the result of much larger gross changes within the domain. Evergreen forest cover decreased 48% and deciduous forest cover increased 77%. The dominant plant functional type changed on 58% of the sites, while total carbon in deciduous vegetation increased 107% and evergreen vegetation decreased 31%. The percent of terrestrial carbon from deciduous and evergreen plant functional types changed from 27%/73% under current climate conditions, to 54%/46% under future climate conditions. These large predicted changes in vegetation and carbon in response to future climate change are comparable to previous empirically based estimates, and motivate the need for future development with this mechanistic model to estimate the transient response to future climate changes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential Vegetation and Carbon Redistribution in Northern North America from Climate Change

Flanagan

Hurtt

Fisk

et al. 2016

Climate

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“…Their presence on the landscape is essential to conserving native biodiversity, maintaining ecosystem productivity, and promoting resilience and health of landscapes [41][42][43][44][45]. Restoring oak woodlands and savannas on a broad scale increases landscape diversity that is important to the recovery and conservation of threatened and endangered species [46][47][48].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review on the Dynamics of Prescribed Fire, Tree Mortality, and Injury in Managing Oak Natural Communities to Minimize Economic Loss in North America

Dey

Schweitzer

2018

Forests

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Abstract:The long history of fire in North America spans millennia and is recognized as an important driver in the widespread and long-term dominance of oak species and oak natural communities. Frequent wildfires from about 1850 to 1950 resulted in much forest damage, and gained fire a negative reputation. The lack of fire for the past nearly 100 years due to suppression programs is now indicted as a major cause of widespread oak regeneration failures and loss of fire-dependent natural communities. The use of prescribed fire is increasing in forest management and ecosystem restoration. An understanding of fire effects on trees can provide the basis for the silviculture of restoring and sustaining oak ecosystems. We present an overview of fire-tree wounding interactions, highlight important determinants of fire injury and damage, and discuss several practical situations where fire can be used to favor oak while minimizing damage and devaluation of the forest. We also identify stages in stand development, regeneration methods, and management objectives for which fire has the potential of causing substantial damage and recommend preferred alternative practices.

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“…Many of these communities are fire dependent and have greatly declined in area due to decades of fire suppression. Prescribed fire and other vegetation management activities (e.g., commercial and non-commercial forest cuttings, mowing/mulching, chemical treatments) are increasingly being applied to increase resilience and resistance to global changes, particularly on public lands [2]. In forests, these activities influence succession and are often applied with the goal of reducing tree density and promoting early successional species and native seedbanks [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire Regimes of Remnant Pitch Pine Communities in the Ridge and Valley Region of Central Pennsylvania, USA

Marschall

Stambaugh

Jones

et al. 2016

Forests

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Many fire-adapted ecosystems in the northeastern U.S. are converting to fire-intolerant vegetation communities due to fire suppression in the 20th century. Prescribed fire and other vegetation management activities that increase resilience and resistance to global changes are increasingly being implemented, particularly on public lands. For many fire-dependent communities, there is little quantitative data describing historical fire regime attributes such as frequency, severity, and seasonality, or how these varied through time. Where available, fire-scarred live and remnant trees, including stumps and snags, offer valuable insights into historical fire regimes through tree-ring and fire-scar analyses. In this study, we dated fire scars from 66 trees at two sites in the Ridge and Valley Province of the Appalachian Mountains in central Pennsylvania, and described fire frequency, severity, and seasonality from the mid-17th century to 2013. Fires were historically frequent, of low to moderate severity, occurred mostly during the dormant season, and were influenced by aspect and topography. The current extended fire-free interval is unprecedented in the previous 250-300 years at both sites.

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Central Hardwoods ecosystem vulnerability assessment and synthesis: a report from the Central Hardwoods Climate Change Response Framework project

Cited by 63 publications

References 0 publications

Potential Vegetation and Carbon Redistribution in Northern North America from Climate Change

Potential Vegetation and Carbon Redistribution in Northern North America from Climate Change

A Review on the Dynamics of Prescribed Fire, Tree Mortality, and Injury in Managing Oak Natural Communities to Minimize Economic Loss in North America

Fire Regimes of Remnant Pitch Pine Communities in the Ridge and Valley Region of Central Pennsylvania, USA

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