Non-Forested Wetlands
The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Lands Team appointed a group to review information on the climate change adaptation strategy known as assisted migration and present recommendations for implementing on lands owned and managed by the Agency of Natural Resources.
The Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) convened an advisory committee to develop a report, analyzing strategies for adapting to the predicted changes in climate.
Chapter 5 in the State Wildlife Action Plan for Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Wildlife Climate Action Tool is designed to inform and inspire local action to protect the Commonwealth’s natural resources in a changing climate. It was developed for local decision-makers, conservation practitioners, large landowners, and community leaders across the state.
Shale bedrock restricts the number of species that could compete with this community type, although invasive trees and shrubs are an increasing problem. Some invasive species can become very competitive in this forest community, including some nonnative grasses, spotted knapweed, Japanese honeysuckle, Chinese bush clover, and ailanthus. These invasive species may become more problematic if they can outcompete native species.
Many of the species in this ecosystem are projected to do well under a range future climate scenarios. Sugar maple is projected to decline in a substantially warmer and drier climate, and would be the most likely to disappear from this community type due to moisture deficit. This community is characterized by fewer than a dozen species, which vary based on the presence of shale or limestone bedrock.
This community is adapted to extreme weather and natural disturbance, and already occupies some of the driest and hottest habitat in the region. This community is geographically constrained due to these extreme site conditions, which may benefit this community by reducing the encroachment of novel species. However, although this community is generally tolerant of short periods of severe drought, longer or more extreme drought can delay germination or kill seedlings and even long-established trees.
This forest community thrives in the hottest, driest, and most exposed slopes underlain by shale and limestone. Because the bedrock sheds water easily, increases in extreme precipitation events may increase erosion or result in the disintegration of shale or limestone downslope.
The presence of fire, either natural or managed, is an important disturbance process that maintains open conditions in the barrens, glades, and woodlands. This community type can change very quickly in the absence of fire, which may allow eastern red cedarredcedar, red maple, and nonnative buckthorn to establish or increase. Both drought and fire can benefit this community, keeping an open state where it is currently present, and even potentially gaining new habitat where adjacent oak-pine forest declines.
