Wildlife Management

Wildlife Management

Taxonomy Machine Name
sector_wildlife_management
Taxonomy Alias
wildlife_management
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Projected increases in temperature could lead to additional heat and moisture stress in montane spruce-fir forests.

Submitted by sdhandler on

Lack of snowpack can result in increased risk of shallow roots freezing. Reduced snowfall and snowpack, which lead to earlier spring melt, may also play a large role in soil moisture availability. Fires are rare in this forest community, but extreme drought or tree mortality could increase fire risk.

All dominant species in montane spruce-fir forests are projected to lose habitat and productivity under both climate scenarios, with more substantial impacts projected under greater warming.

Submitted by sdhandler on

Multiple forest impact models tend to agree that northern and boreal conifer species will decrease. Balsam fir and red spruce may not successfully regenerate if moisture is insufficient and average spring or summer temperatures exceed 92 °F. Seedling mortality may also occur during drought or if soil surface temperatures exceed 115 °F.

Montance spruce-fir forests are restricted to the cool, moist environments at the highest elevations in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Submitted by sdhandler on

Protected valleys or coves may continue to provide cool microhabitats where spruce and fir persist. This forest community is projected to lose physical habitat as the climate warms and species migration is limited by complex topography and extreme requirements.

Many lowland and riparian tree species are expected to remain stable or increase, including American hornbeam, blackgum, boxelder, bur oak, eastern cottonwood, green ash, pin oak, shagbark hickory, swamp white oak, sweetgum, and sycamore.

Submitted by sdhandler on

Distributions of many common species are expected to shift on the broader landscape, but persist in these moist lowlands. Some of these species are tightly linked to moisture availability. Future projections for species in this community may have greater uncertainty because many of these species are less common and there are challenges to modeling wetland habitats. Black ash and eastern hemlock are expected to lose a large amount of suitable habitat under low and high climate scenarios.

Lowland and riparian hardwoods thrive across a variety of soil moisture tolerances and is expected to find micro-habitats and refugia in order to persist in some form on the landscape, increasing its adaptive capacity.

Submitted by sdhandler on

This diverse forest community occurs over a wide range of habitats and is widespread and common throughout the interior portion of the Mid-Atlantic region. In general, areas that are north-facing, at higher elevations, or are farther north in the region are expected to undergo less change compared to forests in warmer, drier, or more southerly locations, particularly where past land use, land development, fragmentation, invasive species, or other factors have already impaired the system.

Lowland and riparian hardwood forests can cope with a high level of natural variability and may have some tolerance to changes in precipitation and water tables with the exception of extreme drought, extreme erosion, or prolonged flooding.

Submitted by sdhandler on

Although prolonged flooding may exceed the saturation tolerance of some species, an increased risk of drought is also a serious threat which many species are not likely to withstand. Changes to the timing and intensity of precipitation events are expected to result in increased flooding, erosion, and sedimentation during precipitation events, as well as potentially increased risk of drought between precipitation events. Hotter and drier conditions could reduce water table levels and water availability to trees.