Agriculture strategies/approaches.
Land with one or more woody species planted or naturally regenerated and managed typically as a single age class using agricultural practices. May include large single specie tree plantations for timber, woody biomass, and or other woody products, or small patches of multiple woody species such as windbreaks or shelterbelts, forested riparian and other woody vegetative treatment areas, silvopasture, or patches used for forest farming.
Land used for facilities and infrastructure supporting farming, forestry, animal husbandry, and ranching activities. This may include dwellings, equipment storage, animal containment facilities, aquaculture facilities, and farm input and output storage and handling facilities.
Land composed of introduced or domesticated native forage species that is used primarily for the production of livestock. Pastures receive periodic renovation and cultural treatments, such as tillage, fertilization, mowing, weed control, and may be irrigated. Pastures are not in rotation with crops and may include individual trees used for shade or silvicultural production.
Land used primarily for the production of grazing animals. Includes native plant communities and those seeded to native or introduced species, or naturalized by introduced species that are ecologically managed using range management principles.
Land used primarily for the production and harvest of annual or perennial field, forage, food, fiber, horticultural, orchard, vineyard, or energy crops. May also include lands used for alley cropping between rows of trees.
All global climate models agree that sea level will rise. Sea levels have increased over the past century, and this trend is expected to continue. Additional warming is expected to increase global sea levels by up to 1m (3 ft) by the end of the century. In the Mid-Atlantic, sea-level rise is significantly greater than observed global sea-level rise, due to sinking of the land surface as it adjust to the melting of former ice sheets and the withdrawals of natural resources from underground.
Some national and global studies suggest that conditions favorable for wildfire will increase, but few studies have specifically looked at wildfire risk in the Mid-Atlantic region. The duration of the fire season in the Mid-Atlantic region is closely linked with increases in average temperature during the summer (Liu et al. 2010). If drought or prolonged dry periods increase in this region as expected, fire risk will increase in both forests and local communities.
Heavy precipitation events have increased substantially in number and severity in the across the Northeast over the last century, and many models agree that this trend will continue over the next century. Under the higher scenario (RCP8.5) the number of extreme events is projected to increase by two to three times the historical average in every region by the end of the 21st century, with the largest increases in the Northeast. Under the lower scenario (RCP4.5), these events are projected to increase by 50%–100%.
Seasonal differences in temperatures across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast have decreased in recent years as winters have warmed three times faster than summers. By the middle of this century, winters are projected to be milder still, with fewer cold extremes, particularly across inland and northern portions of the Northeast. Warmer temperatures are expected to cause more winter precipitation to be delivered as rain. Snowfall, snow depth, and snow pack are all expected to be reduced.
Warmer temperatures can lead to decreased soil moisture even without an associated decrease in precipitation, resulting in a temporary inability for a tree to meet water demand.
