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POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON PACIFIC NORTHWEST FORESTS VEGETATION
Citation:
King, G. AND D. Tingey. POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON PACIFIC NORTHWEST FORESTS VEGETATION. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/R-92/095 (NTIS PB92184985), 1992.
Description:
Despite the limitations of the models used in the climate change analyses, some overall conclusions can be made concerning climate change impacts on Northwest forests. he foremost of these is that the distribution and composition of forests in Washington and Oregon could change substantially under the GCM scenarios of regional climate change. he Holdridge, climate/forest correlations, and forest gap models (except for the CLIMACS results) all forecast shifts to forests better adapted to warmer and drier conditions. emperate forests in the Holdridge scenarios are generally restricted to upper elevations and total forest acreage decreases by 5% to 25% depending on the climate scenario used. n central Oregon, total forested area is projected to decrease by almost half under a 5 degrees C warming. orest zones could move up one complete elevation band under the same degree of warming. ak woodlands and dry Douglas-fir dominated forests are likely to increase in areal extent, while the more productive western hemlock - Douglas-fir forest will undergo significant contraction. ubalpine and alpine vegetation are likely to be reduced substantially. Declines in moisture availability would decrease forest productivity and long-term timber production.