Disturbance and climate change risks to forest carbon sinks and potential management responses

• Main Author: Dymond, Caren
• Other Authors: Healey, John
• Published: Bangor University 2018
• Subjects: 500
• Online Access: https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.760247

Climate change is a global crisis facing forest management. There are risks to many ecological goods and services from forests due to changes in productivity, mortality, pathogen, and wildfire dynamics. Likewise, there are opportunities such as increases in productivity or targeted funding for climate adaptation and emission reductions. To manage those risks and opportunities, we need the fundamental knowledge of forest carbon (C) cycles. Overall, my dissertation aims to improve our understanding of forest carbon dynamics and how they may respond to natural disturbances, climate change and management activities. This purpose falls within the context of the need to adapt to and mitigate climate change for the ongoing provision of ecological goods and services from forest ecosystems such as timber and biodiversity. The thesis starts with a critical analysis of six papers I have previously published. That chapter includes a synthesis of findings, critique of methods used, and identifies some areas for future research. Each subsequent chapter represents a contributing article. The overall findings of this dissertation are (i) that although forests are often GHG sinks moderate or high intensity natural disturbances can reverse that flux. (ii) That climate change effects on productivity may increase or decrease the natural sinks or even create emission sources in forests that may otherwise have been sinks. (iii) That management strategies to increase species diversity and resilience may be effective at reducing risks of emissions, but they must be assessed for individual ecosystems and may be insufficient to fully offset disturbance or climate change effects.