title: Changes in winter conditions impact forest management in north temperate forests.
abstract: Climate change may impact forest management activities with important implications for forest ecosystems. However, most climate change research on forests has focused on climate-driven shifts in species ranges, forest carbon, and hydrology. To examine how climate change may alter timber harvesting and forest operations in north temperate forests, we asked: 1) How have winter conditions changed over the past 60 years? 2) Have changes in winter weather altered timber harvest patterns on public forestlands? 3) What are the implications of changes in winter weather conditions for timber harvest operations in the context of the economic, ecological, and social goals of forest management? Using meteorological information from Climate Data Online and Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) models we document substantial changes in winter conditions in Wisconsin, including a two- to three-week shortening of frozen ground conditions from 1948 to 2012. Increases in minimum and mean soil temperatures were spatially heterogeneous. Analysis of timber harvest records identified a shift toward greater harvest of jack pine and red pine and less harvest of aspen, black spruce, hemlock, red maple, and white spruce in years with less frozen ground or snow duration. Interviews suggested that frozen ground is a mediating condition that enables low-impact timber harvesting. Climate change may alter frozen ground conditions with complex implications for forest management.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA; Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation Center, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Connecticut, 1376 Storrs Road Unit 4087, Storrs, CT 06269-4087, USA. Electronic address: chadwick.rittenhouse@uconn.edu.
authors.forename: Chadwick D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Rittenhouse
authors.affiliation: Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Adena R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Rissman
mesh_terms: D057231:Climate Change; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D017753:Ecosystem; D016468:Forestry / Q000379:methods*; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D028222:Picea; D028223:Pinus; D012621:Seasons; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature; D014922:Wisconsin
chemical_list: D012987:Soil
keywords: Adaptation; Climate change impacts; Forestry; Multiple stressors