OLYMPIA, WA. – (KGMI.com) A divide has emerged among ecologist over how best to help trees in the Pacific Northwest survive climate change.
As native trees die off due to changes in the climate, the U.S. Forest Service and citizen groups around Puget Sound are turning to a climate adaptation strategy called “assisted migration.”
As the world’s climate warms, tree growing ranges in the Northern Hemisphere are predicted to move farther north and to higher elevations.
But trees cannot just get up and walk to their new homes.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, a divide has emerged between groups advocating for assisted migration that would help struggling native trees, and one that could instead see native species replaced by trees from the south.
Forest ecologist Michael Case is currently running an assisted population migration experiment at the Ellsworth Creek Preserve in southwestern Washington.
The experiment involves testing whether breeds of native Douglas fir and western hemlock from drier parts of the state can be used to help western Washington forests adapt to climate change.
Case says this strategy would help minimize the potential for disturbing the ecosystem, whereas moving non-native trees like redwoods and giant sequoias comes with greater risks and could increase the chance of failure.
