Forests of the future: Climate change impacts and implications for carbon storage in the Pacific Northwest, USA

Abstract

Rising greenhouse gases are changing the Earth's climate and adversely affecting ecosystems that currently provide a suite of invaluable benefits, from cleaning water to sequestering carbon. Some of the world's most productive forests grow in the Pacific Northwest region of North America, but our understanding of climate change effects on these forests and their carbon is still emerging. Here, we synthesize the current state of research (including empirical, paleo, and modeling studies), discuss the implications on forest growth and carbon storage in Pacific Northwest forests, and identify key knowledge gaps and future research opportunities based on a combination of published studies and expert opinion. Two case studies are presented that illustrate the expected effects of climate change on moist and dry forest ecology and carbon storage. In response to these impacts, we highlight a number of appropriate regional forest restoration and management adaptation strategies. Filling in knowledge gaps will improve the accuracy of forest carbon accounting, a crucial part of the strategy to meet climate mitigation targets and prevent the most severe impacts of climate change.