Abstract
Management of our forest resources requires that we make decisions now that are based on future unknown climatic conditions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Houghton, Callander, & Varney, 1992) concluded that a 1.5°C to 4.5°C warming of the earth’s climate and accompanying changes in precipitation and weather patterns are likely to occur by the end of the next century. However, there is much disagreement over the validity of the climate predictions, the reliability of the impact assessments, the economic costs, and our ability to develop responses (Reifsnyder, 1989; Schneider, 1990, 1994; Ausubel, 1991; Clark, 1991; Cline, 1992; Michaels & Stooksbury, 1992; Waterstone 1993). This debate over climate change, which is confusing to forest managers and the public, does little to help managers make decisions now that will have repercussions in 100 years. The uncertainty may, in fact, discourage forest managers from even considering the issue, particularly since the planning horizon for many forest management operations is often 10 years or less (Woodman, 1987).
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Spittlehouse, D.L. (1996). Assessing and Responding to the Effects of Climate Change on Forest Ecosystems. In: Lawford, R.G., Fuentes, E., Alaback, P.B. (eds) High-Latitude Rainforests and Associated Ecosystems of the West Coast of the Americas. Ecological Studies, vol 116. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3970-3_15
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