Managing Coast Redwoods for Resilience in a Changing Climate
Reports:
- Managing an Ancient Ecosystem for the Modern World: Coast Redwoods and Climate Change
- Draft Workshop Summary
The North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative, California Landscape Cooperative, Geos Institute, Society for Conservation Biology (Humboldt State Chapter), and the Environmental Protection Information Center hosted a workshop and field trip entitled: “Managing Coast Redwoods for Resilience in a Changing Climate,” which took place on September 6 and 7, 2013 at Humboldt State University and Redwood National Park.
The Friday workshop was held at Humboldt State University, and Saturday’s all-day field trip toured forest restoration sites in Redwood National Park, arranged by the National Park Service.
Workshop participants came from a variety of different backgrounds and areas of expertise. Most were associated with state and federal land management agencies, city government, university research institutions, private forestry, Native American tribes, and non-governmental organizations. This workshop is intended to be one of many to develop sound adaptation strategies for the coast redwood ecoregion, with a strong basis in stakeholder engagement.
The objectives of the workshop were to:
- Bring together scientists and managers with expertise in redwood ecosystems;
- Evaluate the leading science on stressors to redwoods, including climate change; and
- Identify and prioritize adaptation strategies for increasing the resilience of redwoods in the face of climate change.
We conducted a review of the relevant science on climate change, providing workshop participants with information on current conditions, ongoing change, and expected future trends. We also discussed how existing stressors interact with climate change to exacerbate impacts to redwood forest species and ecosystem function. Finally, we weighed different approaches to managing redwoods for persistence and collectively developed recommendations for best practices and information needs. The science review, information from participants, and results of their brainstorming effort are summarized in a white paper developed for distribution.
We talked at length about the need to plan for resistance, resilience, and transition throughout the redwoods ecoregion.
- Resistance is the ability of a system to withstand impacts without major change in plant and wildlife communities
- Resilience is the ability of a system to recover after perturbations, such as fire or drought.
- Transition is the change from one type of system to another in response to climate change and/or other factors.
Most managers and researchers agreed that management strategies for coast redwoods should focus primarily on resilience at this time. Redwoods are very long lived, and redwood ecosystems can potentially persist for hundreds of years, even if reestablishment becomes unsupported by the changing climate. As these forests are impacted by natural disturbance and increasing variability in climate associated with climate change, resilience will become vital for continued persistence.
Workshop participants recommended four primary approaches to increasing resilience in redwoods ecosystems. These included:
- restoration to conditions and structure resembling those of historic old-growth forests;
- improving connectivity;
- reducing stressors; and
- managing at a range-wide scale.
In addition to these four strategies, the group identified and prioritized many other potential strategies (Table 2 in the white paper) for managing this iconic ecosystem. More information can be found in the white paper and the draft workshop summary.
Robert Macnee, Ph.D. is Deputy Director of Resilience Services at Climate Resilience Consulting, where he helps governments, institutions, and communities reduce climate risk in equitable and practical ways. He holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Management focused on climate change impacts on health and communities, and brings over a decade of experience spanning economic development, resilience planning, and implementation.
Samantha Medlock is President of Climate Risk Advisors, helping communities and organizations advance equity, sustainability, and resilience. Her career began chasing floods as a local official in Texas Flash Flood Alley—a hands-on experience that still shapes her approach to climate and disaster risk management.
Jim is a multilingual world traveler. Based in Bavaria during the 1970s, Jim spent most of this period in India, Afghanistan and Nepal, where he founded and operated a charitable medical clinic serving Tibetan Refugees. He settled in Oregon in 1983 on a forested ranch in the Umpqua National Forest.
Dr. Micah Hahn is an Associate Professor of Environmental Health in the Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies at the University of Alaska-Anchorage. She received her joint PhD in Epidemiology / Environment and Resources from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her MPH in Global Environmental Health from Emory University. Subsequently, she was a postdoctoral fellow for the CDC Climate and Health Program, and in this position worked collaboratively with the CDC Division of Vector-borne Diseases and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Her research focuses on understanding the health impacts of climate change and working with communities to develop locally-relevant adaptation and resilience-building strategies. Dr. Hahn is also on the Management Team of the Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center.
Michael is a former Founding Principal of Resilient Cities Catalyst, a global non-profit helping cities and their partners tackle their toughest challenges. He is currently the Executive Director of Climate Resilience Academy at the University of Miami.
Dr. Quintus Jett is a consultant, educator, and strategist for public causes. He has a doctorate in Organizations & Management from Stanford University, and a two-decade faculty career which spans schools, departments, and programs of business, engineering, liberal studies, divinity, and public and nonprofit management. Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Dr. Jett launched a volunteer project in New Orleans, which enlisted residents, students from over a dozen colleges and universities, and hundreds of others to field map the city’s Gentilly district, Lower Ninth Ward, and New Orleans East. Dr. Jett is an innovator in higher education, bridging the divide between academic research and the other priorities of the modern university, including student access and diversity, community engagement, and providing foundations for life-long learning in today’s rapidly changing world.
Scott is Monfort Professor of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University. He has written about 100 publications in the peer-reviewed climate literature, is a former editor of the Journal of Climate, and served for five years as founding Science Chair of the North American Carbon Program.
Linda has many years of experience in disaster preparedness and resilience. She has been an elected official on the Linn County Iowa Board of Supervisors, Chair of the Metropolitan Planning Organization, the East Central Iowa Council of Governments, the statewide Mental Health Developmental Disability and the Linn County Board of Health. Langston is a former president of the National Association of Counties (2013-2014).
Ken works with families and organizations as a mediator, organizational consultant, trainer and facilitator. Along with his passion for helping people prepare for and reduce climate change, Ken also volunteers as a mediator through Mediation Works and is passionate about supporting youth through mentoring with Boys to Men of Southern Oregon.
Matthew is a retired high school teacher who was once honored as Oregon High School Social Studies Teacher of the Year. Before his teaching career he was in the restaurant business in Portland. He is also a lawyer who has been a member of the Oregon State Bar Association since 1980.
Andrea is the Resilience Policy Advisor for the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency. She works across state agencies and with local governments to increase the state’s resilience to the impacts of climate change.