Climate change and forests

Climate change alters forest temperatures, water availability, disturbance regimes, and species distributions, affecting forest ecosystems and the ways people manage them.

Tree mortality: The death of trees through biological stress, injury, or environmental conditions. Heat and drought can exceed trees’ physiological limits, increasing mortality.
Tree line: The upper or polar boundary beyond which trees cannot grow as a continuous forest. Warming may allow trees to establish beyond some existing tree lines.
Climate adaptation: Adjustments that reduce harm from current or expected climate impacts. Forest managers use adaptation to maintain ecological functions under changing conditions.
Climate tipping point: A threshold beyond which a small additional change can trigger a large, persistent system shift. Researchers assess whether forest loss could become self-reinforcing in some regions.
Deforestation: The conversion or removal of forest land, usually resulting in a lasting change in land use. It is a direct human pressure that differs from climate-driven forest change.
Drought stress: Physiological strain caused when water supply fails to meet an organism’s needs. Reduced soil moisture limits tree growth and can weaken defenses against pests.
Forest dieback: The widespread decline and death of trees across a forest region. Persistent heat, drought, and disturbance can turn local stress into regional forest decline.
Assisted migration: The human-mediated movement of species to locations expected to suit them under future conditions. It is one proposed response when forest species cannot shift ranges quickly enough.
Ecological resilience: The capacity of an ecosystem to absorb disturbance while retaining key functions and structure. How much change forests can absorb before reorganizing remains uncertain.
Afforestation: The establishment of forest on land that has not recently been forested. Planting trees can support carbon removal, but is not interchangeable with conserving existing forests.

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