Adaptation services and pathways for the management of temperate montane forests under transformational climate change

Colloff, M. J.; Doherty, Michael; Lavorel, Sandra; Dunlop, Michael; Wise, Russell M.; Prober, Suzanne M.

doi:10.1007/s10584-016-1724-z

Cited by 42 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(54 reference statements)

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“…, Colloff et al. ) due to the capacity of the dominant eucalypts to “recover within a few years from even high intensity fire” (Lavorel et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…, Colloff et al. ). However, empirical data to assess the carbon stability of many fire‐tolerant forests are lacking; in particular, few studies have assessed wildfire effects on carbon stocks in fire‐tolerant eucalypt forests despite evidence of increased mortalities of fire‐tolerant eucalypts (and, thus, potential for decreased biomass carbon) after recent high‐intensity wildfires in south‐eastern Australia (Bennett et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Assessing fire impacts on the carbon stability of fire‐tolerant forests

Bennett

Bruce

MacHunter

et al. 2017

Ecological Applications

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The carbon stability of fire-tolerant forests is often assumed but less frequently assessed, limiting the potential to anticipate threats to forest carbon posed by predicted increases in forest fire activity. Assessing the carbon stability of fire-tolerant forests requires multi-indicator approaches that recognize the myriad ways that fires influence the carbon balance, including combustion, deposition of pyrogenic material, and tree death, post-fire decomposition, recruitment, and growth. Five years after a large-scale wildfire in southeastern Australia, we assessed the impacts of low- and high-severity wildfire, with and without prescribed fire (≤10 yr before), on carbon stocks in multiple pools, and on carbon stability indicators (carbon stock percentages in live trees and in small trees, and carbon stocks in char and fuels) in fire-tolerant eucalypt forests. Relative to unburned forest, high-severity wildfire decreased short-term (five-year) carbon stability by significantly decreasing live tree carbon stocks and percentage stocks in live standing trees (reflecting elevated tree mortality), by increasing the percentage of live tree carbon in small trees (those vulnerable to the next fire), and by potentially increasing the probability of another fire through increased elevated fine fuel loads. In contrast, low-severity wildfire enhanced carbon stability by having negligible effects on aboveground stocks and indicators, and by significantly increasing carbon stocks in char and, in particular, soils, indicating pyrogenic carbon accumulation. Overall, recent preceding prescribed fire did not markedly influence wildfire effects on short-term carbon stability at stand scales. Despite wide confidence intervals around mean stock differences, indicating uncertainty about the magnitude of fire effects in these natural forests, our assessment highlights the need for active management of carbon assets in fire-tolerant eucalypt forests under contemporary fire regimes. Decreased live tree carbon and increased reliance on younger cohorts for carbon recovery after high-severity wildfire could increase vulnerabilities to imminent fires, leading to decisions about interventions to maintain the productivity of some stands. Our multi-indicator assessment also highlights the importance of considering all carbon pools, particularly pyrogenic reservoirs like soils, when evaluating the potential for prescribed fire regimes to mitigate the carbon costs of wildfires in fire-prone landscapes.

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“…, Colloff et al. ) due to the capacity of the dominant eucalypts to “recover within a few years from even high intensity fire” (Lavorel et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Assessing fire impacts on the carbon stability of fire‐tolerant forests

Bennett

Bruce

MacHunter

et al. 2017

Ecological Applications

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“…For example, ecosystems can help to mitigate climate change by storing carbon and provide adaptation services that improve the capacity of society to respond to climate change (Colloff et al. ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shifting the conservation paradigm: a synthesis of options for renovating nature under climate change

Prober

Doerr

Broadhurst

et al. 2019

Ecological Monographs

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149

155

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Changes in Earth's climate are accelerating, prompting increasing calls to ensure that investments in ecological restoration and nature conservation accommodate such changes. To acknowledge this need, we propose the term “ecological renovation” to describe ecological management and nature conservation actions that actively allow for environmental change. To evaluate and progress the development of ecological renovation and related intervention options in a climate change context, we reviewed the literature and established a typology of options that have been proposed. We explored how these options address emerging principles underpinning climate‐adapted conservation goals and whether the balance of approaches reflected in our typology is likely to be sufficient given expected rapid rates of climate change. Our typology recognizes a matrix of 23 intervention option types arranged on the basis of underpinning ecological mechanisms (“ameliorate changing conditions” or “build adaptive capacity”) on one axis, and the nature of the tools used to manipulate them (“low regrets” or “climate targeted”) on the other. Despite a burgeoning literature since 2008, we found that the majority of effort has consistently focused on low‐regrets adaptation approaches that aim to build adaptive capacity. This is in many ways desirable, but a paradigm shift enabling greater attention to climate‐targeted approaches is likely to be needed as climate change accelerates. When assessed against five emerging principles for setting nature conservation goals in a changing climate, only one option type could deliver to all five, and we identified a conflict between climate‐targeted options and “wildness” values that calls for deeper evaluation. Importantly, much of the inference in the 473 reviewed studies was drawn from ecological reasoning and modeling, with only 16% offering new empirical evidence. We also noted significant biases toward North America and Europe, forest ecosystems, trees, and vertebrates. To address these limitations and help shift the paradigm toward humans as “renovators” rather than “restorers” of a prior world, we propose that ecological researchers contribute by (1) informing societal discourse toward adapting nature conservation goals to climate change, (2) adjusting and upscaling conservation planning to accommodate this suite of climate‐adapted goals, and (3) reconceptualizing experimental approaches to increase empirical evidence and expedite innovation of tools to address change.

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“…Fire‐tolerant resprouter forests have therefore been considered likely replacements – naturally or artificially – for fire‐sensitive forests under climate change (Colloff et al. ). However, assumptions of persistence of fire‐tolerant resprouters under emerging fire regimes have rarely been tested.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Frequent wildfires erode tree persistence and alter stand structure and initial composition of a fire‐tolerant sub‐alpine forest

Fairman

Bennett

Tupper

et al. 2017

J Vegetation Science

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Question Frequent severe wildfires have the potential to alter the structure and composition of forests in temperate biomes. While temperate forests dominated by resprouting trees are thought to be largely invulnerable to more frequent wildfires, empirical data to support this assumption are lacking. Does frequent fire erode tree persistence by increasing mortality and reducing regeneration, and what are the broader impacts on forest structure and understorey composition? Location Sub‐alpine open Eucalyptus pauciflora forests, Australian Alps, Victoria, Australia. Methods We examined tree persistence and understorey composition of E. pauciflora open forests that were unburned, burned once, twice or three times by high‐severity wildfires between 2003 and 2013. At each of 20 sites (five per fire frequency class) we assessed extent of top‐kill and mortality of eucalypt clumps, spatial configuration of surviving and dead clumps, densities of new and lignotuberous eucalypt seedlings, and shrub and grass cover. Results At least 2 yr after the last wildfire, proportions of top‐killed E. pauciflora stems were significantly higher, and densities of live basal resprouts significantly lower, at sites burned two or three times compared to once burned or unburned sites. Clump death increased to 50% of individuals at sites burned by three short‐interval wildfires, which led to changes in live tree patchiness, as indicated by nearest‐neighbour indices. Increased tree mortality was not offset by seedling recruitment, which was significantly lower at the twice‐ and thrice‐burned sites relative to single‐burn sites – although seedling recruitment was also influenced by topography and coarse woody debris. In addition to changes in the tree layer, the prominence of understorey shrubs was substantially reduced, and the frequency of grasses markedly increased, after two, and particularly three wildfires. Conclusions Our study provides strong empirical evidence of ecologically significant change in E. pauciflora forests after short‐interval severe wildfires, namely, erosion of the persistence niche of resprouting trees, and a shift in understorey dominance from shrubs to grasses. Our findings highlight the need to consider the impacts of compounded perturbation on forests under changing climates, including testing assumptions of long‐term persistence of resprouter‐dominated communities.

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Adaptation services and pathways for the management of temperate montane forests under transformational climate change

Cited by 42 publications

References 41 publications

Assessing fire impacts on the carbon stability of fire‐tolerant forests

Assessing fire impacts on the carbon stability of fire‐tolerant forests

Shifting the conservation paradigm: a synthesis of options for renovating nature under climate change

Frequent wildfires erode tree persistence and alter stand structure and initial composition of a fire‐tolerant sub‐alpine forest

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