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--></style><title>Latest Forest Service stance on drought and US
forests</title></head><body>
<div
>http://blogs.usda.gov/2016/02/12/new-report-usda-climate-hubs-offer-<span
></span>help-to-address-forest-drought-in-the-u-s/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Excerpt</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="-1">Moisture/drought dictates the state
of most ecosystems; the amount of precipitation is a key driver that
often determines what vegetation type is the most prevalent. So it is
no surprise that drought is impacting our forests and rangelands in
adverse ways. Not only does productivity decrease in times of drought,
but the structure of the forest/rangeland can change as drought
changes the competitive advantage of species, alters fire regimes and
can make keystone species more susceptible to pests, pathogens and
invasive species.</font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="-1"><br>
What options can help land managers? To answer that question the
Climate Hubs have developed regional two-pagers to help land managers
understand what the report means for them in their region and offers
adaptation strategies to help them overcome regional
vulnerabilities.</font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="-1"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="-1">Regional "two-pagers"
available at bottom of this page:</font></div>
<div><font face="Georgia" size="-1"
color="#262626"
>http://www.climatehubs.oce.usda.gov/content/forest-rangeland-drought</font
></div>
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<div><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-1"
color="#0E0E0E">^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^</font
></div>
<div><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-1"
color="#0E0E0E">Deforestation could dry out the Amazon, but a warmer
climate might do the same.</font><br>
<font face="Lucida Grande" size="-1" color="#0E0E0E"></font></div>
<div><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-1" color="#0E0E0E">The length
of the dry season here is expected to increase due to climate change,
and in fact, that already seems to be happening in some Amazon
regions. And this, in turn, could not only threaten regional hydrology
but push a transition to less carbon-dense forests - in some cases
even exacerbating the possibility of wildfires that could transform
tropical forests into a different, savannah-like
environment.</font><br>
<font face="Lucida Grande" size="-1" color="#0E0E0E"></font></div>
<div><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-1" color="#0E0E0E">The forests
section of the recent Paris climate agreement wasn't one of the most
noted or debated sections. And it wasn't as strong as some would have
liked. But the mere fact that it was there was a landmark, Lovejoy
said.<br>
<br>
</font><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-2"
color="#FFFF00"><u
>https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/02/11<span
></span
>/the-solution-to-climate-change-that-has-nothing-to-do-with-cars-or-<span
></span>coal/</u></font><br>
<font face="Lucida Grande" size="-2"
color="#FFFF00"><u></u></font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1"
color="#000000"
>--------------------------------------------------------------------<span
></span>--------------------------------</font><font
face="Lucida Grande" size="-1" color="#000000"><br>
"Up until the late 1950s, tillage (plowing) released more carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere than all the burning of oil and coal in
history."<br>
<br>
" ... not tilling the soil begins to build up the
carbon content of the soil. You might call this 'carbon
farming'."<br>
<br>
"Obviously, these programs are currently not big money-makers for
farmers."</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="-1" color="#1A1A1A"><br>
</font><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-1"
color="#000000">"Energy agriculture - carbon farming" Don
Hofstrand co-director AgMRC<br>
Iowa State University<br>
</font><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-1"
color="#0040C2"><u
>https://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/articles/hof/HofAug07.html</u></font
><font face="Arial" size="-1" color="#1A1A1A"><br>
</font><font face="Bookman Old Style" color="#000000"></font></div>
<div><font face="Bookman Old Style" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
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