No doubt, researchers are always reminding us how climate change is playing a heavy hand in the drastic changes occurred in the northern hemisphere forests, where cold-loving pines and firs are being oppressed out by more adaptable species.
The state of Minnesota is experiencing a significant overhaul of its forest populations, where trees like the American basswood, black cherry, red maple, sugar maple, and white oak are becoming increasingly prevalent, whereas the region’s more characteristic species like the white spruce and balsam fir tree fight to acclimatize to increasing temperature and wet winter storms, the Nature World News reported recently.
But, Marc Abrams, a researcher from Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences is disputing on the fact that the climate is significantly a secondary factor involved in forests overhaul, especially in the eastern United States forests. He further insisted that these forests are still struggling to recover from the state of ‘disequilibrium’ which occurred in the late 1800s and early 1900s from the clear-cutting and burning of large scale forests.
Moreover, Abrams stated in his recent statement, “After analyzing the historical developments in the Eastern forests, the disturbances (both natural and man-caused) are much more momentous than any other change in the climate.”
He further stated that, “Over the course of past 50 years, most of the environmental researchers have concentrated on the impacts of climate change. In some models, though, the impacts of the climate change seems not been as profound as in others, particularly in the eastern Unites States forests.”
Abrams compared pre-settlement – original land survey data along with the present vegetation conditions in the eastern US, in a recent study published in the journal Global Change Biology.
Shockingly, it revealed that the “change” experience by the eastern forests be similar to the still ongoing turbulent results of European disturbances on what was once a balanced forest system.
Meanwhile, Abrams added that this doesn’t mean that the climate isn’t having its own influences. It’s just that, “land-use change often trumped the impacts of a warming climate, and this needs greater recognition in climate change discussions, scenarios and model interpretations.”
