OOS 31
Climate Change and Boreal Forests

Friday, August 9, 2013: 8:00 AM-11:30 AM
101A, Minneapolis Convention Center
Organizer:
Han Y. H. Chen, Lakehead University
Co-organizers:
Yong Luo, Lakehead University; and Samuel F. Bartels, Lakehead University
Moderator:
Dominic Senici, Lakehead University
The boreal forest as an important biome accounts for 33% of the Earth’s forests, and covers 11% of Earth’s total land surface. The boreal forest supports distinct species of wildlife, many of whom are threatened with extinction. It also plays important roles in global carbon cycling, and global energy cycling. However, in the face of anthropological climate changes, the boreal forest ecosystems have not been adequately explored. The aim of this Organized Oral Session is to present a series of recent studies, highlighting current and past evidences that relate to the effects of historical climate change in boreal forests, and to predict trends with regards to future climate change scenarios. The speakers were asked to address the topics such as (1) Effects of climate changes on wildfire such as the fire return interval, as well their consequences including the landscape stand age distribution shift.(2) How recent climate has affected or future climate change will affect boreal forest carbon budget. (3) Effects of climate change on forest dynamics, including three key demographic attributes: growth, recruitment and mortality.(4) How climate change affected or will affect the outbreak of forest pests, as well as potential introduction of invasive pests. (5) Evidences pertaining to regiome shifts and biome shift under climate change. (6) Evidences of trembling aspen dieback in western Canadian boreal region, as well as its causes and consequences.
8:00 AM
 What we have learned about wildfires and climate changes
Edward A. Johnson, University of Calgary; M. Macias-Fauria, Oxford University; Y. Martin, University of Calgary
8:20 AM
 Forest productivity decline across region and species composition in western Canadian boreal forests
Han Y. H. Chen, Lakehead University; Yong Luo, Lakehead University
8:40 AM
 Linking forest productivity decline to demographic attributes in western Canadian boreal forest
Yong Luo, Lakehead University; Han Y. H. Chen, Lakehead University
9:00 AM
 Carbon in Canada’s boreal forest: current status and potential climate change effects
Juha Metsaranta, Natural Resources Canada; Werner Kurz, Canadian Forest Service; C.H. Shaw, Natural Resources Canada; C. Boisvenue, Canadian Forest Service; G. Stinson, Canadian Forest Service; Carolyn Smyth, Canadian Forest Service; Eric Neilson, Canadian Forest Service
9:40 AM
9:50 AM
 Multi-year impacts of severe drought on mortality losses of trembling aspen biomass in the western Canadian boreal region
E.H. (Ted) Hogg, Canadian Forest Service; Michael Michaelian, Canadian Forest Service
10:10 AM
 Early warning signs of biome shift in boreal forests
Pieter S. A. Beck, Woods Hole Research Center; Scott Goetz, Woods Hole Research Center
10:30 AM
 Burn severity influences soil microbial responses to wildfire in Alaskan boreal forests
Sandra R. Holden, University of California, Irvine; Brendan M. Rogers, University of California, Irvine; James T. Randerson, University of California, Irvine; Kathleen K. Treseder, University of California, Irvine
10:50 AM
 B4WarmED forest warming experiment: shifts in nematode community influence plant cover and composition
Madhav Prakash Thakur, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena; Peter B. Reich, University of Minnesota; Nicholas Fisichelli, National Park Service; Artur Stefanski, University of Minnesota; Simone Cesarz, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena; Tomasz Dobies, Poznań University of Life Sciences; Roy Rich, University of Minnesota; Sarah E. Hobbie, University of Minnesota; Nico Eisenhauer, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena
11:10 AM
 B4WarmED forest warming experiment: Species geographic distributions predict photosynthetic responses of local ecotypes to climate warming
Peter B. Reich, University of Minnesota; Roy Rich, University of Minnesota; Artur Stefanski, University of Minnesota; Kerrie M. Sendall, University of Minnesota; Rebecca A. Montgomery, University of Minnesota; Chang-Ming Zhao, Lanzhou University; Sarah E. Hobbie, University of Minnesota; Karen Rice, University of Minnesota