Some northern hardwood species may be more likley to persist or increase through the end of the century , such as red maple, northern red oak, and tulip tree.

These species all tolerate a fairly wide range of conditions. Multiple forest impact models tend to agree that these species are more likely to increase or remain stable in suitable habitat and biomass under a mild climate scenario, but these species may fare worse under a hotter, drier future climate scenario. Red maple is not modeled to change substantially, but its current abundance, biological traits, and ability to respond to disturbance suggest that it may increase. Common associate species, such as American beech, American elm, and white ash, may not be able to increase as much as projected due to substantial impacts from insects and diseases. Some southerly-distributed hardwood species that are currently infrequent or absent in the assessment area are projected to gain additional suitable habitat, including white oak, sassafras, and yellow-poplar.