[MCN] Forests - Managing for RADical ecosystem change: applying the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework

[Lance Olsen]

Front Ecol Environ 2021; doi:10.1002/fee.2377 

Managing for RADical ecosystem change: applying the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework 

Abigail J Lynch et al

Ecosystem transformation involves the emergence of persistent ecological or social–ecological systems that diverge, dramatically and irreversibly, from prior ecosystem structure and function. Such transformations are occurring at increasing rates across the planet in response to changes in climate, land use, and other factors. Consequently, a dynamic view of ecosystem processes that accommodates rapid, irreversible change will be critical for effectively conserving fish, wildlife, and other natural resources, and maintaining ecosystem services. However, managing ecosystems toward states with novel structure and function is an inherently unpredictable and difficult task. Managers navigating ecosystem transformation can benefit from considering broader objectives, beyond a traditional focus on resisting ecosystem change, by also considering whether accepting inevitable change or directing it along some desirable pathway is more feasible (that is, practical and appropriate) under some circumstances (the RAD frame- work). By explicitly acknowledging transformation and implementing an iterative RAD approach, natural resource managers can be deliberate and strategic in addressing profound ecosystem change. 


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Tree Physiology, 2023. Causes of widespread foliar damage from the June 2021 Pacific Northwest Heat Dome

Article received June 8, 2022; accepted December 11, 2022

2 sample paragraphs

While Klein et al. focus on the Heat Dome as a driver of drought and its impacts on plant hydraulic function, it was among the most extreme heat waves ever recorded globally and the most intense in the observational record for the PNW region (Thompson et al. 2022). There is a clear distinction in the climate and hydrometeorological literature between droughts and heat waves, and distinguishing vegetation impacts from each is important. Heat waves are not just associated with droughts, as is commonly assumed, but are increasing in frequency during both wet and dry conditions (Hao et al. 2013, Teskey et al. 2015). While hydraulic damage is a well- established mechanism underlying drought-induced plant mortality (Brodribb and Cochard 2009, Hammond et al. 2019, Sapes et al. 2019), the exceptional temperatures experienced by trees during the Heat Dome must be considered, as extreme heat can be lethal to leaf tissues even with short exposure times (Bigras 2000, Teskey et al. 2015, O’sullivan et al. 2017, Lancaster and Humphreys 2020). 

Heat damage best explains crown- and landscape-scale scorch patterns observed across the PNW, along with the swift browning of canopies, though it does not exclude associated hydraulic damage as a contributor to the foliage scorch and especially to the subsequent mortality observed in some trees. One of the most certain predictions of climate models is an increase in the frequency, duration and intensity of heat waves with climate warming. The likelihood that extreme heat led to widespread foliar scorch and other tree impacts, from this event, argues for a renewed emphasis on understanding heat tolerance and the underlying physiological and biophysical mechanisms leading to greater heat resilience in tree species. Novel avenues that should be pursued include exploring connections between hydraulic properties and thermotolerance, such as safety margins (O’sullivan et al. 2017), the importance of evolutionary lineages in structuring traits and environmental responses to heat (Anderegg et al. 2022), and whether forest canopies actually maintain canopy temperatures below damaging thresholds (Still et al. 2022). 

Still et al. (2023) Causes of widespread foliar damage from the June 2021 Pacific Northwest Heat Dome :  more heat than drought. Tree Physiology, 2023 



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Ecography <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/16000587>
Editor's Choice 

Full Access
Microclimatic buffering in forests of the future: the role of local water balance

Kimberley T. Davis <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/doSearch?ContribAuthorRaw=Davis%2C+Kimberley+T>, Solomon Z. Dobrowski <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/doSearch?ContribAuthorRaw=Dobrowski%2C+Solomon+Z>, Zachary A. Holden <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/doSearch?ContribAuthorRaw=Holden%2C+Zachary+A>, Philip E. Higuera <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/doSearch?ContribAuthorRaw=Higuera%2C+Philip+E>, John T. Abatzoglou <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/doSearch?ContribAuthorRaw=Abatzoglou%2C+John+T>
First published: 21 June 2018 https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.03836 <https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.03836>

Citations: 132 <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ecog.03836#citedby-section>
Read the full text <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ecog.03836>

PDF <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ecog.03836>
TOOLS <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ecog.03836#> SHARE <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ecog.03836#>

Abstract

Forest canopies buffer climate extremes and promote microclimates that may function as refugia for understory species under changing climate. However, the biophysical conditions that promote and maintain microclimatic buffering and its stability through time are largely unresolved. We posited that forest microclimatic buffering is sensitive to local water balance and canopy cover, and we measured this effect during the growing season across a climate gradient in forests of the northwestern United States (US). We found that forest canopies buffer extremes of maximum temperature and vapor pressure deficit (VPD), with biologically meaningful effect sizes. For example, during the growing season, maximum temperature and VPD under at least 50% forest canopy were 5.3°C and 1.1 kPa lower on average, respectively, compared to areas without canopy cover. Canopy buffering of temperature and vapor pressure deficit was greater at higher levels of canopy cover, and varied with water balance, implying that buffering effects are subject to changes in local hydrology. We project changes in the water balance for the mid-21st century and predict how such changes may impact the ability of western US forests to buffer climate extremes. Our results suggest that some forests will lose their capacity to buffer climate extremes as sites become increasingly water limited. Changes in water balance combined with accelerating canopy losses due to increases in the frequency and severity of disturbance will create potentially non-linear changes in the microclimate conditions of western US forests.



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“A death zone is creeping over the surface of Earth, gaining a little more ground each year. 

As an analysis published this week in Nature Climate Change shows, since 1980, these temporary hells on Earth have opened up hundreds of times to take life (C. Mora et al. Nature Clim. Change http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3322 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3322>; 2017). 

“The analysis also reveals that even aggressive reductions in emissions will lead the number of deadly heatwaves to soar in the coming decades.

Nature 546, 452 (22 June 2017) doi:10.1038/546452a

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Book review : Under the Sky We Make. Kimberly Nicholas, PhD

Excerpt : Individual responsibility has become something of a flashpoint in the climate discourse. 

On the one hand, oil companies love to harp on about <https://grist.org/energy/footprint-fantasy/> personal carbon footprints as a way of distracting from their much larger contributions to the climate crisis, both through the fossil fuel products they make and their longstanding, ongoing efforts to delay climate action and misinform the public. 

At the same time, prominent journalists and scientists have waved off individual climate actions as a distraction from the systemic changes that are needed to solve the crisis — changes like overhauling our electricity and transit systems through governmental investments in clean energy, better regulation, and carbon pricing. 

They’re joined by a growing chorus of climate justice advocates who rightly point out that asking poor people to make difficult dietary shifts or give up the car they need to get to work is completely unfair.

That’s not what Nicholas is doing. Her message isn’t aimed at folks struggling to make ends meet, but at people making a middle-class income or higher who live in a wealthy country like the United States, Germany, or France. Far from a distraction, Nicholas argues that the climate impact of the carbon elite is something we need to focus on — individually    and systematically. She points out that globally, more than two-thirds of climate pollution can be attributed to household consumption <https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es803496a>, and that the richest 10 percent of the world population — those making more than $38,000 a year <https://wedocs.unep.org/xmlui/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/34432/EGR20ch6.pdf?sequence=3> — is responsible for about half of those emissions. 

https://grist.org/culture/cutting-your-carbon-footprint-matters-a-lot-if-youre-rich/

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