Climate Change Adaptation Resources

This web page provides 10 recommendations for landowners on how they should manage their ash trees during Emerald Ash Borer and climate change. This includes physiological and silvicultural information on how to promote the survival of ash trees, in addition to why ash trees are important to save.

In this report, we describe several climate-driven problems that are projected to affect, or are already affecting, particular wildlife species and ecosystems, and solutions that conservation groups are implementing to help plants and animals respond and adapt. These projects are tangible examples of climate-informed conservation, and can serve as inspiration for others grappling with similar issues.

This article describes the monitoring of forest carbon in the Eastern US, with broader applications across the US, to compare forest land-use change and forest land cover change.

This web page describes how carbon integrates with land management and provides links to related topics.

This video describes research into the amount of carbon that has been captured by reforestation in the US. These forests were previous destroyed by cultivation from humans or by natural disturbance like forest fires. The research found that 10-20% of all forest carbon in the US is held in the soils of these reforested areas.

Forests are a defining feature of the landscape in “the MassConn Woods” of northeastern Connecticut and south central Massachusetts. These forests, primarily in private family or individual ownership, will increasingly be affected by a changing climate.

The first three sections of this story map highlight key themes from the report and describe the general effects of anticipated changes across the region. The final section shows what foresters and land managers are doing to protect these forests and all of the benefits they provide for us.

A mapping tool that allows the user to model climate, hydrology, agriculture, or fire with a variety of variables. The user can choose the time scale, variable, and calendar time period.

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.

Forests are a defining landscape feature across the footprint of the Northern Forests Climate Hub, which spans the Midwest and Northeast Regional Climate Hubs. Northern forests contain 42% of all US forests, 32% of US timberlands, and 41% of the US population, and are central to ecological, economic, and cultural values in the region. These ecosystems are already responding to changing conditions, and climate change is anticipated to have a pervasive influence on forests and wildlife over the coming decades.

This report details how the carbon cycle works in forest and grassland ecosystems. It also describes management activities that can increase carbon in these ecosystems.

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.

Many landowners have begun to ask how their forest management strategy affects the carbon within their forest and thus the forest’s ability to mitigate climate change. Every strategy has its tradeoffs; therefore, to meet all of society’s needs, we will ultimately need a mix of passive and active strategies across the region.

This publication describes the role of carbon within the forest, the impacts of various land uses on forest carbon and outlines common trade-offs landowners may experience when making informed decisions regarding their lands. This publication was co-created by the University of Massachusetts and University of Vermont and centers on New England regional forestlands, although concepts may apply generally to other areas of the United States.

New England’s climate has changed considerably during the 20th century. Changes in climate will have significant implications for forests and how forests are managed in New England. Sustainable management strategies that maintain species, structural, or age class diversity are important in the face of climate change

Chapter 11 Built Environment, Urban Systems, and Cities, of the Fourth National Climate Assessment

Fourth National Climate Assessment. Chapter 7: Ecosystems, Ecosystem Services, and Biodiversity

This management guide describes 10 forest management practices that can increase short term carbon storage for hardwood forests in the Northeast US and has general applications across many forest types. These practices also improve forest resilience against climate change impacts. These practices were chosen independently of cost, but sources of funding for each practice are also described in the guide.

Your woods are always changing and adapting as they grow and mature, or regrow after agricultural abandonment, natural disturbances, or harvesting activities. Events like storms, droughts, insect and disease outbreaks, or other stressors can damage trees or slow their growth. A changing climate may make your woods more susceptible to the problems these events can cause.

Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences developed this worksheet to help New England woodland owners deal with changing weather and climate. Landowners are encouraged to use this worksheet with their forester. This workbook lays out four steps to help you prepare for climate change

The tool provides a rapid and simple process to assess forest resiliency. This publication contains background information on important characteristics of resilient and healthy forests and examples of potential adaptation strategies. It is accompanied by a scorecard to be used in the field to evaluate the resiliency of a forest.

The sugar maple tree’s limited distribution is affected by high temperatures, low rainfall, and unseasonable variation in the onset of spring warming events. Climate change can impact the production of maple syrup.

Researchers created a model that predicts the probability of land-use change from forest to non-forest and carbon stocks across the US. Over 17 years, 3% of the study area shifted from forest to mixed or non-forest, with a higher probability of change in non-public forests than public forests, as well as areas closer to cities and coastal areas. This could be due to population growth and housing rates growth.

The area’s forests will increasingly be affected by a changing climate. Understanding the potential impacts is an important first step to sustaining healthy forests in the face of changing conditions. As part of New England Climate Change Response Framework, more than 30 scientists and natural resource professionals collaborated to assess the vulnerability of the region’s forests across a range of possible future climates.

This EPA report describes how seasonal events in the US are impacted by climate change, and the implications of the effects on seasonality. The science behind seasonal events and how climate change can impact events are described in the main report, while the technical appendix describes the methods of evaluation and the system used to choose indicators.

This document analyzes the patterns of the carbon cycle of North America. Sectors such as agriculture and energy, as well as ecosystems such as forests and wetlands are assessed, in addition to the impact of human activity on the carbon cycle. Carbon cycling is reported for inland and coastal water, air, and land.

This article describes research on reforestation of cultivated lands and its effect on carbon sequestration in the US. It finds that soils store most of the carbon in ecosystems, and reforesting cultivated lands increases the carbon storage of topsoil. Carbon sequestration also doubles to triples in woody biomass after planting for at least 20 to 30 years.