Climate Change Implications and Adaptation Solutions
| Authors: | Stephen R. Keller, Matthew C. Fitzpatrick, Susanne Lachmuth, Danika Mosher, Thibaut Capblancq, Kevin M. Potter, Elizabeth A. Byers, John Butnor |
| Year: | 2026 |
| Type: | Book Chapter |
| Station: | Northern Research Station |
| Source: | Ecology and Restoration of Red Spruce Ecosystems in the Central and Southern Appalachians. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature |
Abstract
Aspects of red spruce’s climatic niche and its relation to the biogeography of the species are covered in Chapter 1. Our emphasis here is on red spruce’s interaction with its biophysical environment in terms of a changing climate, what this might illuminate about the nature of its climate sensitivities, and how it may respond to future climate change. We approach this from an interdisciplinary viewpoint that integrates perspectives across biological, temporal, and spatial scales not often discussed together in the same work. We first briefly summarize key features of red spruce’s climate preferences and tolerances, as they relate to the ensuing discussion of its realized and potential responses to climate changes, past, present, and future.