Responses of Northern U.S. Forests to Environmental Change

Five years of research carried out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Services' Northern Global Change Program, contributing to our understanding of the effects of multiples stresses on forest ecosystems over multiple spatial and temporal scales. At the physiological level, reports explore changes in growth and biomass, species composition, and wildlife habitat; at the landscape scale, the abundance distribution, and dynamics of species, populations, and communities are addressed. Chapters include studies of nutrient depletion, climate and atmospheric deposition, carbon and nitrogen cycling, insect and disease outbreaks, biotic feedbacks with the atmosphere, interacting effects of multiple stresses, and modeling the regional effects of global change. The book provides sound ecological information for policymakers and land-use planners as well as for researchers in ecology, forestry, atmospheric science, soil science and biogeochemistry.

Inhalt

Section 1. An Introduction to Northern U.S. Forest Ecosystems.- 1. Forest Resources and Conditions.- 2. Geologic and Edaphic Factors Influencing Susceptibility of Forest Soils to Environmental Change.- 3. Climate and Atmospheric Deposition Patterns and Trends.- 4. Forest Declines in Response to Environmental Change.- Section 2. Global Change Impacts on Tree Physiology.- 5. Interacting Effects of Multiple Stresses on Growth and Physiological Processes in Northern Forest Trees.- 6. Physiological and Environmental Causes of Freezing Injury in Red Spruce.- 7. Tree Health and Physiology in a Changing Environment.- 8. Atmospheric Deposition Effects on Surface Waters, Soils, and Forest Productivity.- Section 3. Ecosystem-Scale Interactions with Global Change.- 9. Nitrogen Saturation in Experimental Forested Watersheds.- 10. Effects of Soil Warming on Carbon and Nitrogen Cycling.- 11. Regional Impacts of Climate Change and Elevated Carbon Dioxide on Forest Productivity.- 12. Regional Impacts of Ozone on Forest Productivity.- 13. Effects of Climate Change on Forest Insect and Disease Outbreaks.- 14. Forest Responses to Changing Climate: Lessons from the Past and Uncertainty for the Future.- Section 4. Summary.- 15. Summary of Prospective Global Change Impacts on Northern U.S. Forest Ecosystems.