Emerging Research – Climate Smart Land Network

The Global Change Research Act of 1990 mandates that the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) deliver a report to Congress and the President no less than every four years that “1) integrates, evaluates, and interprets the findings of the Program…; 2) analyzes the effects of global change on the natural environment, agriculture, energy production and use, land and water resources, transportation, human health and welfare, human social systems, and biological diversity; and 3) analyzes current trends in global change, both human-induced and natural, and projects major trends for the subsequent 25 to 100 years.” The most recent National Climate Assessment was published in two volumes (in 2017 & 2018).[av_layerslider id=’7′][av_heading tag=’h3′ padding=’10’ heading=’Emerging Research’ color=” style=” custom_font=” size=” subheading_active=” subheading_size=’10’ custom_class=”][/av_heading][av_hr class=’invisible’ height=’50’ shadow=’no-shadow’ position=’center’ custom_border=’av-border-thin’ custom_width=’50px’ custom_border_color=” custom_margin_top=’30px’ custom_margin_bottom=’30px’ icon_select=’yes’ custom_icon_color=” icon=’ue808′ font=’entypo-fontello’][av_one_fourth first][av_image src=’https://climatesmartnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/charney_et_al_2016_figure_v2.png’ attachment=’3378′ attachment_size=’full’ align=’center’ styling=” hover=” link=’manually,http://phys.org/news/2016-07-north-american-forests-climate.html’ target=” caption=” font_size=” appearance=” overlay_opacity=’0.4′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_text_color=’#ffffff’ animation=’no-animation’][/av_image][/av_one_fourth][av_three_fourth min_height=” vertical_alignment=’av-align-top’ space=” margin=’0px’ margin_sync=’true’ padding=’0px’ padding_sync=’true’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ radius_sync=’true’ background_color=” src=” attachment=” attachment_size=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”][av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]<a href=”http://phys.org/news/2016-07-north-american-forests-climate.html” data-mce-href=”http://phys.org/news/2016-07-north-american-forests-climate.html”>North American forests unlikely to save us from climate change, study finds</a>July 2016This <a href=”http://phys.org/news/2016-07-north-american-forests-climate.html” data-mce-href=”http://phys.org/news/2016-07-north-american-forests-climate.html”>news article</a> describes a recent study that utilized extensive tree ring data to assess the likely impact of climate change on forest growth rates throughout North America. The abstract for the research article is available <a href=”http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27434040″ data-mce-href=”http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27434040″>here</a>.Major forecast findings included:

<li>Negative impacts on forest growth rates in the interior west and positive impacts on forest growth along western, southeastern, and northeastern coasts</li>

<li>Shifts in sensitivity (how tree growth responds to climate) offset the positive effects of warming on high-latitude forests — no evidence for continued ‘boreal greening'</li>

<li>Increases in water-use efficiency due to CO2 fertilization where insufficient to reverse projected growth declines across much of North America</li>

[/av_textblock][/av_three_fourth][av_hr class=’invisible’ height=’50’ shadow=’no-shadow’ position=’center’ custom_border=’av-border-thin’ custom_width=’50px’ custom_border_color=” custom_margin_top=’30px’ custom_margin_bottom=’30px’ icon_select=’yes’ custom_icon_color=” icon=’ue808′ font=’entypo-fontello’][av_one_fourth first] [av_image src=’https://climatesmartnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/USFS_Drought_Report_January2016.png’ attachment=’3375′ attachment_size=’full’ align=’center’ styling=” hover=” link=’manually,http://www.fs.fed.us/sites/default/files/DROUGHT_book-web-1-11-16.pdf’ target=” caption=” font_size=” appearance=” overlay_opacity=’0.4′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_text_color=’#ffffff’ animation=’no-animation’][/av_image] [/av_one_fourth][av_three_fourth min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”][av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]<a href=”http://www.fs.fed.us/sites/default/files/DROUGHT_book-web-1-11-16.pdf” data-mce-href=”http://www.fs.fed.us/sites/default/files/DROUGHT_book-web-1-11-16.pdf”>Effects of Drought on Forests and Rangelands in the United States</a>January 2016This report is a national assessment of peer-reviewed scientific research on the impacts of drought on U.S. forests and rangelands. It includes information about the response of forest physiology, insect and fungal pathogens, and forest biogeochemistry to current and future drought, as well as impacts of increasing drought on forest dynamics, structure, diversity, and management. [/av_textblock][/av_three_fourth]