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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Laboratory for Agriculture and The Environment » Soil, Water & Air Resources Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #318695
Title: USDA Midwest and Northern Forests Regional Climate Hub: Assessment of climate change vulnerability and adaptation and mitigation strategies

Author
item Hatfield, Jerry
item SWANSTON, CHRIS - Forest Service (FS)
item JANOWIAK, MARIA - Forest Service (FS)
item STEELE, RACHEL - Office Of The Chief Economist

Submitted to: Government Publication/Report
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/10/2015
Publication Date: 2/1/2015
Citation: Hatfield, J.L., Swanston, C., Janowiak, M., Steele, R. 2015. USDA Midwest and Northern Forests Regional Climate Hub: Assessment of climate change vulnerability and adaptation and mitigation strategies. Government Publication/Report.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The Midwest Regional Climate Hub covers the States of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin and represents one of the most extensive and intensive agricultural systems in the world. The Northern Forests Climate Sub Hub shares this footprint and represents people working and living in these widespread northern forests, which store vast amounts of carbon even as they support industry, recreation, and cultural values. Diverse agriculture, grasslands and prairies, forests and woodlands, and urban areas form a mosaic across this landscape that defies any single approach to coping with the changing climate, but instead enables numerous approaches and opportunities. Variations in weather and ultimately climate affect all agricultural and forest systems. They include temperature extremes, excess or deficit precipitation, severe storms, and wind. Reduction in snowpack or frozen soil can have significant effects on forest-associated economies. Many forests in the Midwest have seen a reduction in the number of days in which winter harvesting operations and transport can take place, or in which winter tourism associated with snowmobiling or silent sports has decreased. Extremes in spring weather can create distinct challenges in agriculture. Evaluation of the crop insurance claims for the Midwest show that the most frequent claim is excessive water and precipitation followed by drought. Producers are concerned about the effect of increasing spring precipitation on the workable field days in the spring. In Iowa, every inch of rain in April and May reduces the number of workable field days by 2.6 days. This is significant when coupled with the observation that the number of workable field days has decreased in the past 15 years, creating a problem for planting crops in the spring. This increase in spring precipitation increases the potential for soil erosion and is further exaggerated by the increase in storm intensity being observed across the Midwest. Animal operations are not immune to the changes in spring precipitation. Increased rain and storms add stress to animals and their young in outdoor field lots and pasture systems where they are greatly affected by cool, wet weather. All of these changes increase the pressure that agriculture and forest producers face in being able to conduct timely operations. Crops and forests are under increasing pressure from weeds, insects, and diseases as a consequence of variable weather and a changing climate. Additionally, much forest management in the Midwest relies on natural regeneration of primary tree species, which is jeopardized in many boreal and drought-intolerant species. Therefore, understanding the implications of changing weather patterns and variability is critical to the effective management of agricultural and forest systems. Producers want tools that can help implement adaptation strategies to reduce these climate-related pressures and ensure the quality of production. Producers need information about the effects of climate change on production systems, which range from management of labor resources in specialty crop production, to market demand for nursery crops given the changing climate, to marketing of locally grown produce, and development of innovative management systems to increase profitability and product quality across all systems. The Midwest Regional Climate Hub is working to assemble information to serve the needs of producers and increase the value of our research information in educational and outreach efforts.