Forest Research - Climate change impacts

Summary

Fire on heathland at Bagshot . Location:...

Forests and woodlands are an important part of our landscape and provide many benefits to society. The tree species that are native to the UK have adapted to the local climate, atmosphere and soils over many years. However, human activities have resulted in changes to the natural environment, especially over the past 200 years. It is expected that the climate of the UK will become milder and wetter in winter, and significantly hotter and drier in the summer months over the coming century. These changes to our climate are predicted to be larger and more rapid than any since the last ice-age, posing real problems for trees, woodland and forestry.

This research programme is improving our understanding of how woodland will respond to the many environmental drivers associated with climate change. This knowledge is being used to provide predictions of future changes to tree survival and growth and the functioning of woodland ecosystems, and to develop guidance on how best to adapt to the impending challenges presented by climate change. With the development of our understanding, it is becoming apparent that the impacts of climate change are relevant to almost all avenues of forest and woodland research, and the issue is under active consideration in many other research programmes.

The development of guidance on climate change impacts and adaptation uses a number of approaches, including impact studies, process and empirical model development and the interpretation of forest monitoring data. The following specific research areas comprise the programme:

Meteorology

Phenology

Monitoring of woodland condition

Predicting future species suitability

Process model development and interpretation

Climate change impact studies

Assessing and modelling the impacts of ground-level ozone pollution

Interactions with other aspects of environmental and socio-economic change.

Research objectives

The objectives of this research are to improve our understanding of how changes to the natural environment may influence forests and woodlands in the future and to provide authoritive advice as to how woodland management can adapt to the changes that have been predicted. Many of the findings to date, together with a review of current knowledge is summarised in Forestry Commission Bulletin 125 - Climate change: impacts on UK forests.

Funders and partners

This research is funded by the Forestry Commission Climate Change programme.

We are partners of the South East Climate Change Partnership (SECCP), whose mission is to investigate, inform and advise on the threats and opportunities arising from the impacts of climate change in South East England and to promote adaptive planning in the region.

Forestry Commission policy

The UK is one of the few countries that have reacted to the Kyoto Protocol by drawing up a comprehensive domestic strategy for climate change: ‘Climate Change – the UK programme’, was published in November 2000. The Forestry Commission and Northern Ireland Forest Service helped to produce this strategy and are responsible for ensuring that our forestry policies and practices allow UK woodlands to withstand the rigours of climate change. We need to understand what the changes might be and how we can plan for robust woodlands that will be sustainable in the long term. We also have a role in helping forestry play a part in alleviating the impacts of climate change in the wider landscape – by, for example, providing wildlife refuges and reducing the impact of flooding.

Publications

Forestry Commission Bulletin 125 - Climate Change: Impacts on UK Forests

Climate change: Impact on UK Forests
Describes current thinking on the most likely effects of climate change on UK forests and woodlands. It is recommended reading for forest managers and advisers, students and all those with an interest in the consequences of global change to our forests.

Forestry Commission Bulletin 125 - order this publication

Status

This research programme was established in 1993, at that time addressing both climate change impacts and greenhouse gas balance research. Two separate research programmes were subsequently created in 2002, Forest carbon dynamics and this Climate change impacts programme, highlighting the importance of both subject areas in their own right. Both programmes are reviewed at five-yearly intervals.