Logging to Save a Forest from Climate Change

A good article about logging in the forest where I did my graduate research in northern Michigan.  Researchers are using funding from a timber contract with Louisiana-Pacific to cut the aspen trees on part of the experimental forest.  They will study the soil and water impacts of cutting the trees, as well as looking at species composition changes.

In the article, a researcher is quoted as saying that it would be irresponsible not to cut the trees because of climate change.  "Aspen in the Great Lakes region are considered “climate change losers,” according to Nave, and are not expected to fare well as the region’s climate continues to warm in the coming decades."

"The high-emissions scenario projects an 11.2-degree Fahrenheit summer temperature increase in the assessment area by the end of the 21st century. At the same time, summer precipitation is projected to decline by 3.8 inches under that scenario. "

"It will take a decade or more to know which of the aspen-management treatments was most effective, Nave said. It is expected that future generations of Biological Station researchers and students will carry on with the work, he said."

UMBS Tree Girdling Study

Pellston, Michigan 2010 Climate

The average yearly data were obtained from NOAA's climatology servers and this year (or any year's) values were from NOAA's climate data online service. Choose Surface Data, Global Summary, then Country: USA, then choose a state and finally a station and year range.

UPDATE:  In 2016, the New York Times implemented this visualization.