Impacts of climate-driven insect population change on sawtimber provisioning, carbon sequestration, and water retention: a case study of bark beetle outbreaks in the USA
A key issue in landscape management, whether public or private, is the mitigation of disturbance events that impact vegetation, ecosystem health, and thus ecosystem services (ESs). Although many studies have found significant tree mortality due to insect infestations, there is still insufficient und...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Forests and Global Change |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2024.1513721/full |
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| author | Haojie Chen Matthew R. Sloggy Samuel W. Flake Samuel Evans Charles J. Maxwell |
| author_facet | Haojie Chen Matthew R. Sloggy Samuel W. Flake Samuel Evans Charles J. Maxwell |
| author_sort | Haojie Chen |
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| description | A key issue in landscape management, whether public or private, is the mitigation of disturbance events that impact vegetation, ecosystem health, and thus ecosystem services (ESs). Although many studies have found significant tree mortality due to insect infestations, there is still insufficient understanding of how these infestations alter ESs and their associated economic values. Addressing this research gap can assist forest managers and decision-makers in refining and implementing adaptive management practices and policies, while enhancing the resilience of forests and their ESs. We investigated the impacts of bark beetle outbreaks on three ESs (timber provisioning, water retention, and carbon sequestration) in the Lake Tahoe region of Northern California and Northern Nevada. Using the landscape simulation model LANDIS-II, we examined differences between a business-as-usual management scenario and an enhanced management scenario with respect to the amount of aboveground tree biomass and ESs impacted by beetle outbreaks. Since insect infestation is also influenced by climate, each of the two management scenarios considered three different climate scenarios: a scenario with average historical climate (no climate change); a warmer, wetter scenario from the Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate (MIROC); and a hotter, drier scenario from the Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques (CNRM). Results show that a warmer and drier climate results in more severe beetle-induced tree mortality than a wetter and cooler climate, resulting in greater negative impacts to ESs. The estimated loss of ES value is approximately $0.2 to $0.8 million USD per year. Enhanced management is more capable than business-as-usual practices to prevent beetle damages to trees and ESs. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Kabale University |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
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| series | Frontiers in Forests and Global Change |
| spelling | doaj-art-a6bce4c0921145209a5be368e4acda7b2025-01-17T14:00:21ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Forests and Global Change2624-893X2025-01-01710.3389/ffgc.2024.15137211513721Impacts of climate-driven insect population change on sawtimber provisioning, carbon sequestration, and water retention: a case study of bark beetle outbreaks in the USAHaojie Chen0Matthew R. Sloggy1Samuel W. Flake2Samuel Evans3Charles J. Maxwell4Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), Oak Ridge, TN, United StatesPacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service (USDA), Riverside, CA, United StatesDepartment of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, United StatesCalifornia Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Sacramento, CA, United StatesInstitute for Natural Resources, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United StatesA key issue in landscape management, whether public or private, is the mitigation of disturbance events that impact vegetation, ecosystem health, and thus ecosystem services (ESs). Although many studies have found significant tree mortality due to insect infestations, there is still insufficient understanding of how these infestations alter ESs and their associated economic values. Addressing this research gap can assist forest managers and decision-makers in refining and implementing adaptive management practices and policies, while enhancing the resilience of forests and their ESs. We investigated the impacts of bark beetle outbreaks on three ESs (timber provisioning, water retention, and carbon sequestration) in the Lake Tahoe region of Northern California and Northern Nevada. Using the landscape simulation model LANDIS-II, we examined differences between a business-as-usual management scenario and an enhanced management scenario with respect to the amount of aboveground tree biomass and ESs impacted by beetle outbreaks. Since insect infestation is also influenced by climate, each of the two management scenarios considered three different climate scenarios: a scenario with average historical climate (no climate change); a warmer, wetter scenario from the Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate (MIROC); and a hotter, drier scenario from the Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques (CNRM). Results show that a warmer and drier climate results in more severe beetle-induced tree mortality than a wetter and cooler climate, resulting in greater negative impacts to ESs. The estimated loss of ES value is approximately $0.2 to $0.8 million USD per year. Enhanced management is more capable than business-as-usual practices to prevent beetle damages to trees and ESs.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2024.1513721/fullbiodiversityclimate impactcost–benefit analysisecosystem service valueecosystem service valuationenvironmental changeenvironmental impact assessment |
| spellingShingle | Haojie Chen Matthew R. Sloggy Samuel W. Flake Samuel Evans Charles J. Maxwell Impacts of climate-driven insect population change on sawtimber provisioning, carbon sequestration, and water retention: a case study of bark beetle outbreaks in the USA Frontiers in Forests and Global Change biodiversity climate impact cost–benefit analysisecosystem service value ecosystem service valuation environmental change environmental impact assessment |
| title | Impacts of climate-driven insect population change on sawtimber provisioning, carbon sequestration, and water retention: a case study of bark beetle outbreaks in the USA |
| title_full | Impacts of climate-driven insect population change on sawtimber provisioning, carbon sequestration, and water retention: a case study of bark beetle outbreaks in the USA |
| title_fullStr | Impacts of climate-driven insect population change on sawtimber provisioning, carbon sequestration, and water retention: a case study of bark beetle outbreaks in the USA |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impacts of climate-driven insect population change on sawtimber provisioning, carbon sequestration, and water retention: a case study of bark beetle outbreaks in the USA |
| title_short | Impacts of climate-driven insect population change on sawtimber provisioning, carbon sequestration, and water retention: a case study of bark beetle outbreaks in the USA |
| title_sort | impacts of climate driven insect population change on sawtimber provisioning carbon sequestration and water retention a case study of bark beetle outbreaks in the usa |
| topic | biodiversity climate impact cost–benefit analysisecosystem service value ecosystem service valuation environmental change environmental impact assessment |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2024.1513721/full |
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