
The Cross-Pollinator is a science synthesis publication co-produced quarterly by the Urban Field Station Network and the Urban Forest Technology and Science Delivery Team. It spotlights interdisciplinary collaborations among researchers and practitioners that “cross” forest research with urban and community forests.
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Issue 2
Planting for the Future: Managing Urban Forests for Climate Change
Scientists and managers are working together through an effort called Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change (ASCC). This framework, primarily implemented in rural areas, is now being applied to an area along the Mississippi River National Recreation Area in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. The project involves test plots for alternative climate change strategies in an urban floodplain forest and is designed to provide a degree of real-time feedback to managers to ensure that the forests along the river continue to provide important services as the climate changes.
Current Buzz - A list of related tools and resources
Presentations
- The Climate and Health Action Guide
- Climate Change & Urban Environments: Adaptation through diversity
- Climate change impacts and adaptive strategies
- A Call to Action for Ash Tree Conservation and Resistance Breeding
Reports, Resources, & Tools
- The Climate Change Atlas - A national hub of regional information on the changing geography of tree and bird habitat.
- The Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change (ASCC) project is a collaborative effort to establish a series of experimental silvicultural trials across a network of different forest ecosystem types throughout the United States.
- The Climate Change Response Framework represents a collaborative effort among the USDA Forest Service, USDA Climate Hubs, the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science, American Forests, and many others. Visit Forest Adaptation for more information, resources, and tools.
- The Cooperative Weed Management Areas are an active network of federal, state, and local organizations working collaborative to combat invasive species often driven by climate change.
- The Vibrant Cities Lab features the Climate and Health Action Guide, providing guidance to maximize the benefits of trees to address climate change and improve human health.
- Tools for Assessing Urban Forests provides links to federal tools and resources.
- USDA Climate Hubs - A central repository with links to regional scientific information, grants, and resources focused on climate impacts.
- An Ice Storm Manipulation Experiment in a Northern Hardwood Forest - A model demonstration of the impact to forests from extreme ice storms.
- Experimental Forest and Ranges (EFR) network - the largest and longest-lived ecological research network in the United States
- Trees on the Move: As Tree Species Migrate, the Forests we Care About Transform - Article from American Forests
Research Papers
- Askew, Ashley E.; Bowker, J.M.; 2018. Impacts of climate change on outdoor recreation participation: Outlook to 2060. Journal of Park and Recreation Administration .
- Brandt, L.A.; Sertle, M.; Hamilton, H.; Deaton, C.; Mangan, K. [et al.]. 2020. Adapting bottomland hardwood forests to a changing climate. In: Pile, L.S.; [et al.], comps. The 2019 National Silviculture Workshop: a focus on forest management-research partnerships. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-193. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 159-162. https://doi.org/10.2737/NRS-GTR-P-193-paper22.
- Brandt, L.; Derby Lewis, A.; Fahey, R.; Scott, L.; Darling, L.; Swanston, C. 2016. A framework for adapting urban forests to climate change. Environmental Science & Policy. 66: 393-402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2016.06.005.
- Hammes, M. C., Brandt, L., Nagel, L., Peterson, C., Windmuller-Campione, M., & Montgomery, R. A. (2020). Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change in the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, an Urban National Park in the Twin Cities Area, Minnesota. Cities and the Environment (CATE), 13(1), 11. https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cate/vol13/iss1/11/
- Iverson, L.R.; Peters, M.P.; Prasad, A.M.; Matthews, S.N. 2019. Analysis of climate change impacts on tree species of the eastern US: results of DISTRIB-II modeling. Forests. 10(4): 302. https://doi.org/10.3390/f10040302.
- Looney, C.E.; Peterson, C.L.; Nagel, L.M.; Guldin, J.M.; Swanston, C.W. [et al.] 2020. Adaptive silviculture for climate change network: learning from land manager-research partnerships. In: Pile, L.S. [et al.], comps. The 2019 National Silviculture Workshop: a focus on forest management-research partnerships. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-193. Madison,WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 112-114. https://doi.org/10.2737/NRS-GTR-P-193-paper16.
- Looney, C.E.; D’Amato, A.W.; Palik, B.J.; Slesak, R.A. 2015. Overstory treatment and planting season affect survival of replacement tree species in emerald ash borer threatened Fraxinus nigra forests in Minnesota, USA. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 45(12): 1728-1738. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2015-0129.
- McPherson, E. Gregory; Berry, Alison M.; van Doorn, Natalie S.; Downer, James; Hartin, Janet; Haver, Darren; Teach, Erika. 2019. Climate-ready tree study: update for Southern California communities. Western Arborist.
- Moser, W. Keith; Butler-Leopold, Patricia; Hausman, Constance; Iverson, Louise; Ontl, Todd; Brandt, Leslie; Matthews, Stephen; Peters, Matthew; Prasad, Anantha. 2020. The impact of climate change on forest systems in the northern United States: Projections and implications for forest management [Chapter 8]. In: Stanturf, John A., ed. Achieving sustainable management of boreal and temperate forests.
- Nagel, L.M.; Palik, B.J.; Battaglia, M.A.; D’Amato, A.W.; Guldin, J.M. [et al.]. 2017. Adaptive silviculture for climate change: a national experiment in manager-scientist partnerships to apply an adaptation framework. Journal of Forestry. 115(3): 167-178. https://doi.org/10.5849/jof.16-039.
- Swanston, C.W.; Janowiak, M.K.; Brandt, L.A.; Butler, P.R.; Handler, S.D. [et al.]. 2016. Forest adaptation resources: climate change tools and approaches for land managers, 2nd ed. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-GTR-87-2. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 161 p. http://dx.doi.org/10.2737/NRS-GTR-87-2.
Past Issues
Issue 1. Natural turned national infrastructure: Urban forest patches in the 21st century