Future Forests: Adaptation to Climate Change provides background on forests as natural and social systems, the current distribution and dynamics based on major biomes that set the stage for their role of forests in global systems, the nature of climate change organized by biomes, and detailed descriptions of mitigation and adaptation strategies. This book forms presents a foundational summary of the feedback between the effect of climate change on forests and the converse effects of forests on climate, leading to conclusions on how forest management needs to be dictated by climate change.
The book will be ideal for readers in the fields of climate change science, forest science and conservation biology, helping them develop a thorough understanding on the broad perspective of climate change on forests, the response of forests to these changes, and other climate-forest interaction potentials.
- Organizes information on climate change and the effect of/on forests at a general level before presenting biome-related specifics
- Discusses the differences among major biomes (tropical, boreal, temperate) and the systems in which forest management (and hence potential mitigation and adaptation) occurs
- Goes beyond simply describing problems, elaborating on potential solutions that can be implemented for climate change mitigation
1. Introduction
2. Climate Change and Variability Overview
3. Forests as Natural Systems
4. Nutrient limitation in global forests: Current status and future trends
5. Mitigation potential of forests
6. Forest Hydrology in a Changing Climate
7. Forest Disturbances
8. Forest Distribution Relative to Climate and Soils
9. Temperate Forests
10. Urban Forest
11. Tropical Forests
12. Boreal Forests
13. Forests and Society
14. Unknown unknowns
Steven G. McNulty a USDA Forest Service senior scientist, and the Director of the USDA Southeast Climate Hub located in Research Triangle Park, NC. He has a Ph.D. In Natural Resources and has spent over 30 years researching environmental stress impacts and adaptive management options for forests, agriculture, and rangelands. Dr. McNulty has co-authored over 250 publications on climate change impacts and ecosystem adaptation strategies. He has served as a US Congressional Fellow, Climate Change Chair of the North American Forestry Commission, Expert on IUFRO and FAO Assessments. Dr. McNulty is the recipient of US Forest Service Distinguished Scientist Award. He is currently the principal investigator for the Updated Silvics of North America Project (USNAP).