OOS 30
The Climate Change Response Framework: Integrating Tools, Partnerships, and Actions to Support Climate-Smart Conservation and Forest Management

Thursday, August 8, 2013: 1:30 PM-5:00 PM
101F, Minneapolis Convention Center
Organizer:
Leslie Brandt, USDA Forest Service
Co-organizers:
Christopher W. Swanston, USDA Forest Service; Patricia Butler, Michigan Technological University; Maria K. Janowiak, USDA Forest Service; and Stephen Handler, USDA Forest Service
Moderator:
Stephen Handler, USDA Forest Service
Climate change has the potential to alter the composition, structure and productivity of forested ecosystems both directly through changes in temperature and precipitation, and indirectly through changes in disturbance such as invasive species, insects and diseases, and fire. Resource managers face the immense challenge of integrating the inherent uncertainties of a changing climate into a wide variety of management decisions. The Climate Change Response Framework (Framework) is a collaborative approach among researchers, managers, and landowners to integrate climate change considerations into management. The Framework was originally developed for ecological province 212 in northern Wisconsin beginning in 2008. This session shows how the Framework was been expanded to three ecoregions within the eastern United States. The first talk in the session describes the unique attributes of the Framework and how it has successfully bridged the gap between climate change science and forest management. Subsequent talks present modeling studies that provide input into the Framework. A variety of different modeling approaches are used, including species distribution models, gap models, ecosystem process models, and spatially dynamic process models. These models use a common set of geographic areas, timeframes, and downscaled climate change models and emission scenarios to allow direct comparison among modeling approaches of projected changes in forest productivity and composition. The final talks in the session explain how this information is applied to forest management. We demonstrate how model information is incorporated to assess vulnerability of forest communities within each ecoregion. Finally, we demonstrate how this information is being used by land managers to select and implement appropriate adaptation strategies based on their specific management objectives. This integrated set of presentations provides an important example of how climate change adaptation is being successfully implemented at a variety of spatial scales.
1:30 PM
 A framework for climate-smart conservation and forest management
Christopher W. Swanston, USDA Forest Service; Leslie Brandt, USDA Forest Service; Patricia Butler, Michigan Technological University; Stephen Handler, USDA Forest Service; Maria K. Janowiak, USDA Forest Service; Danielle Shannon, Michigan Technological University
1:50 PM
 Using a species distribution model and traits to assess tree species vulnerability and adaptability under climate change in the U.S. Northwoods and Central Hardwoods
Louis Iverson, Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service; Stephen N. Matthews, The Ohio State University; Anantha Prasad, Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service; Matthew P. Peters, Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service
2:10 PM
 Coupling LINKAGES and LANDIS Pro to predict future tree species distributions in the Central Hardwoods and Appalachian regions
Frank R. Thompson III, USDA Forest Service; Hong S. He, University of Missouri; William D. Dijak, University of Missouri-Columbia; Brice B. Haneberry, University of Missouri; Jacob S. Fraser, University of Missouri; Wen J. Wang, University of Missouri
2:30 PM
 A multi-landscape comparison of potential climate futures in Minnesota and Michigan
Matthew Duveneck, Portland State University; Robert Scheller, Portland State University; Mark A. White, The Nature Conservancy
2:50 PM
 A broad-scale and high resolution spatial simulation of forest composition and biomass changes under climate change: Northern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan
Weimin Xi, Texas A&M University-Kingsville; David J. Mladenoff, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Feng Liu, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Sami Khanal, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Robert Scheller, Portland State University
3:10 PM
3:20 PM
 Forest productivity under projected changes in climate and CO2 in northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan using PnET-CN
Emily B. Peters, State of Minnesota; Kirk Wythers, University of Minnesota; Shuxia Zhang, Supercomputing Institute; John B. Bradford, U.S. Geological Survey; Peter B. Reich, University of Minnesota
3:40 PM
 An approach to assessing vulnerability of forest communities to climate change using impact models and expert elicitation
Leslie Brandt, USDA Forest Service; Christopher W. Swanston, USDA Forest Service; Patricia Butler, Michigan Technological University; Stephen Handler, USDA Forest Service; Maria K. Janowiak, USDA Forest Service
4:00 PM
 Incorporating climate change vulnerability into forest adaptation: Case studies from real-world adaptation projects
Maria K. Janowiak, USDA Forest Service; Christopher W. Swanston, USDA Forest Service; Stephen Handler, USDA Forest Service; Leslie Brandt, USDA Forest Service; Patricia Butler, Michigan Technological University; Danielle Shannon, Michigan Technological University
4:20 PM
 Adaptation strategies and approaches for forest management
Patricia Butler, Michigan Technological University; Christopher W. Swanston, USDA Forest Service; Maria K. Janowiak, USDA Forest Service; Leslie Brandt, USDA Forest Service; Stephen Handler, USDA Forest Service
4:40 PM
 Designing a forest landscape model that simulates density-based stand dynamics at regional scales
Hong S. He, University of Missouri; Wen J. Wang, University of Missouri; Jacob S. Fraser, University of Missouri; Stephen R. Shifley, USDA Forest Service; Frank R. Thompson III, USDA Forest Service