Forestlands in Texas are experiencing increased threats from fire, insect and plant invasions, disease, extreme weather, and drought. Although many of the effects of future changes are negative, natural resource management can help mitigate these impacts.
Forests and other ecosystems act as carbon sinks, and they sequester carbon dioxide through plant growth, removing it from the atmosphere. The Forest Service is a leader in developing tools for carbon assessment, management, and forest carbon cycle science.
The Climate Smart Land Network (CSLN) provides forest landowners and managers with direct access to the forest and climate experts at Manomet, and the opportunity to benefit from other forest landowners in the Network. Bulletin series on climate change issues in forest management for forest landowners.
The USDA Forest Service has created comprehensive climate change education modules to help land managers better understand the basic climate change science, the effects of climate change on forest and grassland ecosystems, how we can respond to climate change with management and forest carbon science, policy, and management. Start here to learn about climate change, how it may influence land management, and what options are open to natural resource managers for responding to these changes.
EcoAdapt's collection of various resources that can help practitioners navigate climate change vulnerability through to adaptation. The Adaptation Starter Kit is divided into six parts:
The Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange (CAKE) is managed by EcoAdapt and aims to build a shared knowledge base for managing natural and built systems in the face of rapid climate change. Find Adaptation and Vulnerability Assessments and Reports, Case Studies and Tools to help assess climate change impacts relevant to the region and resource area that you work within.
Pine Integrated Network: Education, Mitigation, and Adaptation Project (PINEMAP) is a large, collaborative project to study planted loblolly pine forests in the Southeast US. PINEMAP is focused on 20 million acres of planted pine forests that are managed by private landowners from Virginia through Texas. The PINEMAP Decision Support System (DSS) is a suite of tools tailored to the needs of professional foresters in an effort to assist with their decision-making process.
