|
Managing Climate Change Risk in Forests:
How Can We Use Silviculture and Genetics to Minimize Potential Problems?
While debate swirls around us about the policies
and politics of climate change, land managers must stay focused
on our responsibility to maintain healthy and productive forests.
Much of the discussion about forests and climate change has centered
on carbon budgets and the possibilities of income from carbon credits.
However, if projections by climatologists are accurate, forest landowners
may have problems maintaining the health and productivity of their
stands. The difficulty for land managers is that either under-reacting
or over-reacting to the uncertainty about future climate can be
disadvantageous—we need to strike a balance. This workshop
takes a look at climate uncertainty in terms of managing risk. After
an introduction to the scientific basis for climate projections
and possible implications, speakers will focus on what techniques
land managers should consider to maintain forest health and productivity
in the face of uncertainty.
The workshop which was a joint initiative of the Taskforce
on Adapting Forests to Climate Change and the Western Forestry
and Conservation Association was held on November 12, 2008 in Portland,
OR. Click on the workshop
title to access talks presented at
the workshop.
|
