Author: climate-woodlands

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Climate Variability and Change: Basic Concepts

Excerpt from the Southwest Climate Change Network, written by Zack Guido, University of Arizona

The climate system is dynamic and complex. While weather conditionschange over short periods of time, such as when anvil-shaped clouds burst in the late afternoon during monsoon season, climate describes average conditions over longer intervals. Understanding this distinction and other basic concepts such as radiative forcing and the enhanced greenhouse gas effect can clarify how the climate is changing and how humans have contributed to …

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Basics of Climate Models

Adapted from Barsugli, J., K. Averyt, and A. Ray. How Climate Models Work. (August 7, 2009). Southwest Climate Change Network.

News headlines about climate change research often are based on climate models. But to most people, the way these models function is a mystery.

Researchers are continually improving the ability of climate models to simulate realistic climate. The models are imperfect descriptions of the Earth’s climate system, but their progress has advanced the understanding of future climate change and expanded …

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Biodiversity in Forests

Written by Amy Grotta

Biodiversity refers to the range of life forms and species that exist within a given ecosystem. Different forest types have varying degrees of biodiversity. Tropical rain forests are some of the most biologically diverse ecosystems on the planet. However, even temperate forests consisting of only a few overstory tree species may contain surprising levels of biodiversity when all other life forms found within them are considered (e.g., herbaceous plants, mammals, birds, invertebrates, fungi, etc.).

Species exist …

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Understanding Soils in Forests

Written by Sabrina Kleinman

Soil is an important component of forest and woodland ecosystems as it helps regulate important ecosystem processes, such as nutrient uptake, decomposition, and water availability. Soil also represents one of the largest carbon pools on the planet whose alteration can impact carbon storage and carbon emissions. Soil carbon helps soils retain water, increases soil’s capacity for holding on to important nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous, and serves as a source of energy for belowground organisms …

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Managing for Biodiversity Loss from Climate Change

Adapted from: Manley, P. 2008. Biodiversity and Climate Change. (May 20, 2008). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Climate Change Resource Center. http://www.fs.fed.us/ccrc/topics/biodiversity.shtml

Managing for biodiversity and the potential loss of species due to a changing climate poses several challenges toward the management of natural resources. The loss of keystone species, species redundancy, and/or unique species may lead to loss of specific ecosystem services and processes as well as less overall plant and animal community resilience to environmental stressors. Identifying …

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Soils and Climate Change

Written by Sabrina Kleinman, University of Arizona

While the majority of climate change impacts on forests focus on tree health, soil impacts should not be overlooked. A changing climate can impact nutrient cycling, ecosystem respiration, and the storage of carbon in forests. While global models predict that climate change can increase global net primary production (NPP), regional variations in climate, nutrient availability, and water will have the largest impact on tree growth locally (Melillo et al. 1993). Most research …

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Epidemiology and Infestation of Southern Pine Beetle

Written by J. D. Ward and P. Mistretta for Forest Encyclopedia Network

The southern pine beetle (SPB), which attacks all species of pines (in the southern United States), prefers loblolly, shortleaf, Virginia, ponderosa, and pitch pines but seldom attacks longleaf pine. Recently, SPB has been observed to successfully infest white and Table Mountain pines. Mature trees in pure, dense stands have long been considered most susceptible to SPB attack, but in recent years unthinned pine plantations have increasingly supported SPB …

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What Makes a Tree Unique?

Written by Peter Kolb, University of Montana

A tree is a plant with a tall structure comprised of a stem and branches to support leaves and a root system than anchors the stem as well as procures and stores essential growth elements, such as water and nutrients. Trees are unique from other plants because they can and usually do live for decades and even up to several millennia (the oldest known single-stem tree is a baobab in South Africa measured …

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Southern Pine Beetle

Written by G. K. Douce, C. Evans, and D. J. Moorhead for Forest Encyclopedia Network
Figure 1. Adult southern pine beetles. Photo by David T. Almquist, courtesy of forestryimages.org.

The adult southern pine beetle (SPB) is 2 to 4 millimeters in length, has a rounded abdomen, and is brownish-black in color (Figure 1). Males have a frontal groove on top of the head, while the females possess a broad elevated ridge called a mycangium on the anterior pronotum. Both males …

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History of Southern Pine Beetle

Written by J.D. Ward and P. Mistretta for Forest Encyclopedia Network

The southern pine beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann) is a serious pest of pines in the southern United States, Mexico, and Central America. The southern pine beetle (SPB) kills pines by boring under the bark and destroying the cambium layer of the tree. Trees are often mass attacked by thousands of individual southern pine beetles. Because populations can build rapidly to outbreak levels, large numbers of trees can be …

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