Understanding, Predicting, and Managing the Impact of Climate Change on Forests

We will develop models to predict the movement of habitat for trees and birds under various climate change scenarios, and increasingly to link these models of habitat change with our developing understanding of species migrations and interactions with land use. We will translate these models into web-based tools to help managers predict changes in their forests, linking models with users’ sense of place, helping managers decide if adjustments to their forest management practices are appropriate. We will also continue to study the role of forests in mitigating climate change through carbon sequestration. We will develop improved understanding of basic patterns of carbon accumulation in forests and its interactions with disturbances including forest management practices. We will continue to cooperate with entities developing markets for sequestered carbon to help managers develop affordable techniques to improve carbon sequestration and monitor carbon budgets effectively.

Landscape Ecological Modeling

Combining spatially distributed data related to organisms, climate, soils, and topography with statistical modeling techniques provides ever-increasing capabilities in modeling past, present, and potential future ecosystems at multiple scales. 

more on Landscape Ecological Modeling

• Atlas of Potential Tree Habitat Changes
• Atlas of Potential Bird Habitat Changes
• Modeling Tree Habitat under Climate Change - DISTRIB
• Modeling Bird Habitat Under Climate Change - DISTRIB-BIRD
• A Spatially Explicit Cellular Model of Species Colonization - SHIFT
• Global Issues - Poverty, Tsunami, Natural disasters, and U.S. Biological Trends

Carbon Sequestration

• Carbon and Forest Management
• Carbon tools
• Forest Management for an Uncertain Climate Future: Tools and Training

For further information log on website :
http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/units/sustainingforests/focus/climate_change/