CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON FOREST ECOSYSTEMS

Catalog description

Forest management responses to climate change rely on understanding the mechanisms of interaction between forests and climate, as well as the capacity to evaluate impacts of future climate scenarios on forests. Considers effects of rising CO2 and changing climate at the level of ecophysiological processes, changes in species distribution, changes in disturbance regimes, and ecosystem-level impacts mediated by the water, carbon, and nitrogen cycles. Modeling approaches include statistically-based bioclimatic envelopes, and dynamic global vegetation models that treat ecosystem processes and changes in biome distribution.