Climate Change Threatens Forests’ Role as Carbon Sinks, Researchers Find

Climate change is posing a considerable challenge to forests and the ecosystem services they provide.

Forests help stabilize the climate, regulate ecosystems, protect biodiversity, support livelihoods, and supply goods and services that can drive sustainable growth.

However, climate change also affects forests in various ways, such as altering precipitation, increasing temperature, intensifying extreme events, and changing disturbance regimes.

While some forests have the potential to adapt to these changes, they may not be able to do so fast enough to avoid the impending stress and degradation.

How forests adapt to climate change

(Photo : Omar Marques/Getty Images)

Forests adapt to climate change in different ways depending on the local site conditions and the adaptive potential of trees. of the adaptation mechanisms include:

Phenotypic plasticity is one known adaptation mechanism. This refers to the ability of trees to adjust their morphology, physiology, or behavior in response to environmental changes without changing their genetic composition.

For example, some trees may alter their leaf size, shape, or color to cope with drought or heat stress, as per Phys.org.

Another example is genetic adaptation, which refers to the changes in the frequency of genes or alleles within a population that enhance the fitness of trees under new climatic conditions.

For example, some trees may evolve to have higher drought tolerance or pest resistance through natural selection or gene flow.

Lastly, there is migration, which refers to the movement of trees or seeds across space to track suitable habitats or avoid unfavorable ones. For example, some trees may shift their ranges upslope or poleward to follow cooler or wetter climates.

Why forests may not adapt quickly enough

Despite these adaptation mechanisms, many forests may not be able to keep up with the pace and magnitude of climate change. Some of the factors that limit forest adaptation are:

Lag effects: This refers to the time delay between the onset of climate change and the response of forests. For example, some trees may have long lifespans and slow growth rates that prevent them from adjusting quickly to new conditions, as per ScienceDaily.
Limited dispersal: This refers to the constraints on the movement of trees or seeds due to physical barriers, habitat fragmentation, human activities, or biological factors. For example, some trees may have low seed production, short dispersal distances, or poor establishment success that hinder their migration potential.
Maladaptation: This refers to the situation where adaptation mechanisms become detrimental rather than beneficial under changing conditions. For example, some trees may have trade-offs between traits that reduce their overall fitness or performance.

Also Read: Adapting to Climate Change Could Still Mean Environmental Troubles

What can be done to enhance forest adaptation?

To maximize the climate benefits of forests and maintain their ecosystem services, it is essential to support forest adaptation through various actions that complement the sustainable management, conservation, and restoration of forests. Some of the actions that can be taken are:

Combatting deforestation and forest degradation

This refers to reducing the loss and damage of forest ecosystems due to human activities such as logging, agriculture, mining, or urbanization. This can help preserve forest biodiversity, carbon stocks, and resilience.

Promoting forest restoration

This refers to restoring degraded forest landscapes by planting native trees, enhancing natural regeneration, or improving soil and water quality. This can help sequester carbon dioxide, enhance ecosystem functions, and provide habitat for wildlife.

Implementing adaptive forest management

This refers to applying flexible and adaptive strategies that consider the current and future impacts of climate change on forests.

This can involve selecting suitable tree species and provenances, diversifying stand structure and composition, adjusting silvicultural practices and rotation periods, monitoring forest health and productivity, and facilitating assisted migration.