Forests play a critical role in mitigating climate change by capturing carbon dioxide and storing carbon within soils and forest biomass.
Forest management actions are often necessary to maintain or enhance the forest carbon sink, which offsets about 15 percent of total U.S. fossil fuel emissions annually. Management actions can be designed to enhance sequestration rates or to maintain or increase existing forest carbon stocks by preventing carbon losses. These management actions also can support other desired co-benefits for resource management objectives, such as timber supply, wildlife habitat, or water quality.
Effects from Climate Change
The direct effects of climate change on forest and soil carbon are harder to observe than climate change effects on other resource areas, especially because forest carbon sequestration and storage is influenced by local site conditions. However, climate change impacts such as increasing temperatures, changing seasonality of precipitation, and increases in the frequency, severity, or extent of natural disturbances do affect the ability of forests to sequester and store carbon. These changes may alter historic carbon trends and impact how a forest responds to carbon management practices.
Browse the featured resources on this page to learn more about climate change and forest carbon management.
Adaptation in Action
There is no single answer on how to best adapt to climate change, and adaptation responses will vary by location based upon the magnitude of climate impacts, the inherent resilience of ecosystems, and the values and resources of local communities. We have developed a set of Adaptation Strategies and Approaches designed specifically for forest carbon management. Drawing from a large body of scientific literature, this menu is designed to be used with the Adaptation Workbook to help managers understand and select from a wide variety of climate-informed actions that support carbon mitigation.
Learn more about the Menu of Adaptation Strategies and Approaches for Forest Carbon Management:
- Read the peer-reviewed paper, Forest Management for Carbon Sequestration and Climate Adaptation (free download). Citation: Todd A Ontl, Maria K Janowiak, Christopher W Swanston, Jad Daley, Stephen Handler, Meredith Cornett, Steve Hagenbuch, Cathy Handrick, Liza McCarthy, Nancy Patch. Forest Management for Carbon Sequestration and Climate Adaptation, Journal of Forestry, Volume 118, Issue 1, January 2020, Pages 86–101, https://doi.org/10.1093/jofore/fvz062
- Browse the interactive version at AdaptationWorkbook.org
- Download the extended Practitioner's version, with a full description of the menu
- Download the summarized one-page version of the menu
Find real-world adaptation demonstration projects that have used the carbon menu to test new ideas and actions in planning:
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources: Split Rock Lighthouse State Park
Featured Resources
There are so many resources on this topic that it can be hard to know where to start. We’ve created the following list to feature resources related to forest carbon management. Browse these papers, webinars, guides, and other resources to learn more about integrating forest carbon considerations in land management planning and activities.
Webinars
- Considering Carbon Alongside Other Management Goals: A special session webinar from the 2024 Adaptation Planning and Practices online course.
- Forest Carbon Management and Climate Adaptation: Part of the New England Forest Adaptation Webinar Series.
Management Guides
- Considering Forest and Grassland Carbon in Land Management (Janowiak et al. 2017)
- Healthy Forest for Our Future: A Management Guide to Increase Carbon Storage in Northeast Forests (Marx et al. 2021)
- Massachusetts “Caring for Your Woods” Landowner Guide: Managing for Forest Carbon
- Managing Forests for Carbon in Massachusetts guide
- Forest Carbon: An Essential Natural Solution for Climate Change (Catanzaro and D’Amato 2019)
Additional Resources
- Northern Forests Climate Hub Forest Carbon and Management resources
- Forest Carbon Resource Guides from Michigan State University’s Forest Carbon and Climate Program
- Land Use Change and Forest Management Effects on Soil Carbon: A series of publications and factsheets that synthesize the effects off land use and forest management on soil carbon, outline potential forest soil carbon risks, and discuss restoration possibilities for multiple regions across the U.S.
- Understanding Forest Carbon Management: A self-paced, online professional short course from Michigan State University’s Forest Carbon and Climate Program (registration fee required)
Work with Us
We provide training and technical assistance to natural resource professionals and land owners to support climate-informed land management. Examples of our work include:
- Working with American Forests to plan and facilitate learning labs to uncover land-section greenhouse gas mitigation options for natural and working lands
- Partnering with state agencies and other organizations to develop and model forest management scenarios to project future carbon mitigation opportunities in inform the advancement of state policies and programs that support enhanced mitigation
- Providing resources and training on adaptation for forest carbon management
- Creating tools to support the adaptation of forests to climate change, while also considering carbon
- Develop real-world examples of how climate-informed management of forests can achieve goals related to carbon management
Partners
Forest carbon management resources are being produced in collaboration with American Forests, Michigan Technological University, the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Inc, and other regional partners.