PROJECT TITLE (ID)

The Adaptation of Asia-Pacific Forests to Climate Change

EXECUTING AGENCY

Department of Forest Resources Management, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PARTNERS

• Environmental Canada

• BC Ministry of Forests, Mines and Lands

• US Forest Services

• University of Melbourne  

• Chinese Academy of Forestry

• Jiangxi Agricultural University

• Nanjing Forestry University

• Research Institute of Insect Resources, China

   

  SUPERVISORY AGENCY

   

  ECONOMIES DIRECTLY BENEFITING

  China, Canada, Austria

   

  DURATION

  36 months, 1 Nov 2011-31 Oct 2014

  PROJECT SITE MAP

   

  GOAL

  The project aims to develop adaptive strategies that will facilitate an increase in the resilience of forests and forest-dependent communities in the Asia-Pacific region to climate change by applying state-of-the-art technologies and analytical approaches from climate modelling, geospatial analysis and sustainable forest management.

   

  OBJECTIVES

1. Analysis of the current status of climate change      studies in forest ecosystems and forest dependent communities in the      Asia-Pacific region to identify knowledge gaps and define working      hypotheses;

2. Development of high-resolution climate models for      western North America and the entire Asia-Pacific region;

3. Development of ecological models to predict      impacts of climate change on distributions of three major forest      trees(Chinese fir/ Cunninghamia Lanceolata; Eucalyptus(E. urophylla and E.      grandis), in the Asia-Pacific region; and Douglas-fir/ Pseudotsuga      menziesii in North America;

4. Development of science-based adaptation      strategies in management practices that will increase the resilience of      forests and forest-dependent communities in the Asia-Pacific region to      climate change, including specific recommendations for the pilot study      sites;

5. Establishment of a network of scientists, forest      practitioners and policy makers in the Asia-Pacific region that will      facilitate capacity building and knowledge transfer, and will support and      strengthen decision-making over forest management responses to climate      change;

6. Development of scientific tools to support      scientific research and policy making for regional forest rehabilitation      and afforestation in a changing climate.

EXPECTED OUTPUTS

1. A report analyzing current knowledge on climate      change studies in forest ecosystems and forest dependent communities in      this region.

2. High-resolution climate models that can generate      climate data for any location in the region for historical years (1901‒2010) and future periods      (2020s, 2050s and 2080s). High-resolution climate maps including some      important climate variables, such as mean annual temperature, mean annual      precipitation, arid index and growing degree-days, for the entire region.

3. Ecological models that predict impacts of climate      change on major tree species distributions (Chinese fir; Eucalyptus; and      Douglas-fir). Maps of predicted shifts in suitable climatic conditions for      these major marketable tree species will be provided for various climate      change scenarios.

4. SFM recommendations to increase the resilience of      forests and forest-dependent communities in the Asia-Pacific region to      climate change.

5. A network that connects scientists, forest      managers and policy makers in the region to share information, knowledge      and new research products.

6. Web-based scientific tools for regional forest      rehabilitation and afforestation including interactive climate models,      climate maps, bioclimate maps for major ecosystems and some important tree      species.

ACTIVITIES

Objective 1： Analysis of current knowledge on impacts of climate on forests in the Asia-Pacific Region

1. Research on climate change and forest adaptation and mitigation

2. Climate issues in the Asia-Pacific region, and current strategies and actions

3. Accomplishment and effectiveness analysis, and opportunities for improvement

Objective2：Development and application of high-resolution climate models ClimateWNA  and ClimateAP

1. Data collection and processing

2. Model development

3. Model validation and the generation of climate maps for the reference and future periods

Objective 3: Development of ecological models

1. Collection of vegetation data including the data for three major tree species distributions in western North America, China and Australia

2. Generation of high-resolution climate data for the locations where vegetation data are collected, and gridded climate data for projections of bioclimate envelope maps.

3. Development of models to capture the plant-climate relationships using the machine-learning approach Random Forest and process-based approach TACA and LANDIS models.

Objective 4: Pilot study and development of recommendations for SFM practices for adaptation

1. pilot research work

2. Integration between ecological model predictions and local forest management

3. Application of best management practices to the pilot sites

Objective 5: Communication, network building and technology transfer

Objective 6: development of web-based climate tools for APFNet

DOWNLOAD

• Policy brief.pdf

• Project Completion Report.pdf

• publications.pdf