Forests may lose ability to protect against extreme climate change

Global warming may limit the capacity of forests to moderate climate extremes in the future, a study warns. Forests, one of the most dominate ecosystems on Earth, harbour significant biodiversity. Scientists have become increasingly interested in how this diversity is enhanced by the sheltering microclimates produced by trees.

Researchers from University of Montana (UM) in the US suggest that a warming climate in the Pacific Northwest would lessen the capacity of many forest microclimates to moderate climate extremes in the future.

"Forest canopies produce microclimates that are less variable and more stable than similar settings without forest cover," said Kimberley Davis, a postdoctoral research associate at UM.

 "Our work shows that the ability of forests to buffer climate extremes is dependent on canopy cover and moisture availability - both of which are expected to change as the Earth warms," said Davis, lead author of the study published in Ecography: A Journal of Space and Time in Ecology.