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Palaeodata-informed modelling of large carbon losses from recent burning of boreal forests
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Wildfires play a key role in the boreal forest carbon cycle(1,2), and models suggest that accelerated burning will increase boreal C emissions in the coming century (3). However, these predictions may be compromised because brief observational records provide limited constraints to model initial conditions (4). We confronted this limitation by using palaeoenvironmental data to drive simulations of long-term C dynamics in the Alaskan bo- real forest. Results show that fire was the dominant control on C cycling over the past millennium, with changes in fire frequency accounting for 84% of C stock variability. A recent rise in fire frequency inferred from the palaeorecord5 led to simulated C losses of 1.4 kg C m?2(12% of ecosystem C stocks) from 1950 to 2006. In stark contrast, a small net C sink of 0.3 kg C m?2 occurred if the past fire regime was assumed to be similar to the modern regime, as is common in models of C dynamics. Although boreal fire regimes are heterogeneous, recent trends6 and future projections (7) point to increasing fire activity in response to climate warming throughout the biome. Thus, predictions (8) that terrestrial C sinks of northern high latitudes will mitigate rising atmospheric CO2 may be over-optimistic.
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Resources
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Climate Science Documents
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AppLCC/USFS Landscape Dynamics Assessment Tool Workshop
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The Appalachian LCC and the U.S. Forest Service wish to invite you to attend or nominate a representative to attend a 1-day hands-on roll-out of the Landscape Dynamics Assessment Tool.
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News & Events
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Events
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Applying LCC Tools to Issues Impacting the Keystone State
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Pennsylvania is a landscape filled with abundant forests and wildlife, thousands of miles of rivers and streams, and home to a productive energy industry that includes the emergence of natural gas and alternative energy sources. Natural resource agencies and conservation organizations increasingly see the value for proactive science and tools that help inform decisions both locally and regionally in order to best protect and conserve the lands, waters, and wildlife of the state while harnessing resources that benefit society and the economy.
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News & Events
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"Ecosystem Benefits and Risks" Research and Website Support Natural Resource Management across the Appalachians
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The Appalachian Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC) and the U.S. Forest Service are releasing products from the first phase of an ongoing study assessing benefits of and risks to the region's "ecosystem services" -- natural assets valued by people such as clean drinking water, outdoor recreation, forest products, and biological conservation.
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News & Events
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Understanding Ecosystem Services from a Geosciences Perspective
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Assessment of ecosystem services—the benefits society receives from ecosystems—can be improved by including broader spatial and temporal scales of geosciences perspectives.
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News & Events
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Tools and Resources for Addressing Energy Development in the Appalachians
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On July 20, Jessica Rhodes of the Appalachian LCC gave an in-depth presentation to the Appalachian Mountains Joint Venture (AMJV) community on LCC-funded tools and resources that can address potential impacts of various energy development technologies on birds and other wildlife.
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News & Events
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Workshops Introduce New Way to Evaluate Changes to Benefits of Nature
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The Appalachian LCC and the U.S. Forest Service held its initial workshops introducing a new way of evaluating ecosystem change and resilience via the Landscape Dynamics Assessment Tool (LanDAT).
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News & Events
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Ecosystem Benefits & Risks
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Understanding the complete and diverse benefits society receives from nature as well as risks to their sustainability will allow managers, industry, and the public to adopt policies that encourage protection and investments in these resources. To meet this need, the FWS collaborated with the Forest Service on cutting edge research that fully integrates society’s value of ecosystems with future threats to better inform natural resource planning and management across the Appalachian landscape. This unique work provides a comprehensive resource to partners at a regional level, serving as a model for the LCC Network to deliver ecosystem services conservation science.
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Ecosystem Benefits and Risks
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