Trees Migrating North Due to Warming

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/02/090209-trees-migrating-north.html

Trees Migrating North Due to Warming

Bruce Dorminey
for National Geographic News
February 9, 2009

Other than the Ents of Lord of the Rings fame, trees generally aren't known for their mobility. So news that some tree species may be headed north at an average clip of 62 miles (100 kilometers) a century may come as a surprise.

At that rate, stands of yellow birch in the U.S., for example, may move well north of the Canadian border by the early 2100s.

That's the finding of a new study led by the U.S. Forest Service, which concludes that a few dozen tree species in the eastern U.S. are moving north at an unexpected rate, likely due to global warming.

In a paper appearing this month in the journal Forest Ecology and Management, the study authors documented the northward march of 40 major tree species over 30 eastern states based on the distribution of seedlings versus mature trees.

…

[bananas]

1. That's about 9 feet per day

http://www.google.com/search?q=62+miles%2Fcentury+to+feet%2Fday

62 (miles / century) = 8.96281977 feet / day

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. That's roughly consistent with the birds

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=186036&mesg_id=186057

[Buzz Clik]

2. "Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?"

[OKIsItJustMe]

5. We have no coconuts here in the North Eastern United States

you silly English person. (Well, at least not yet!)

Now go away!

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. Study Here

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2008.12.013

Copyright © 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V.

An indicator of tree migration in forests of the eastern United States

C.W. Woodall^a, C.M. Oswalt^b, J.A. Westfall^c, C.H. Perry^a, M.D. Nelson^a and A.O. Finley<sup>d

a</sup>USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, St. Paul, MN, United States

^bUSDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Knoxville, TN, United States

^cUSDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Newtown Square, PA, United States

^dMichigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States

Received 18 August 2008;
revised 20 November 2008;
accepted 12 December 2008.
Available online 23 January 2009.

Abstract

Changes in tree species distributions are a potential impact of climate change on forest ecosystems. The examination of tree species shifts in forests of the eastern United States largely has been limited to simulation activities due to a lack of consistent, long-term forest inventory datasets. The goal of this study was to compare current geographic distributions of tree seedlings (trees with a diameter at breast height ≤2.5 cm) with biomass (trees with a diameter at breast height > 2.5 cm) for sets of northern, southern, and general tree species in the eastern United States using a spatially balanced, region-wide forest inventory. Compared to mean latitude of tree biomass, mean latitude of seedlings was significantly farther north (>20 km) for the northern study species, while southern species had no shift, and general species demonstrated southern expansion. Density of seedlings relative to tree biomass of northern tree species was nearly 10 times higher in northern latitudes compared to southern latitudes. For forest inventory plots between 44° and 47° north latitude where southern tree species were identified, their biomass averaged 0.46 tonnes/ha while their seedling counts averaged 2600 ha⁻¹. It is hypothesized that as northern and southern tree species together move northward due to greater regeneration success at higher latitudes, general species may fill their vacated niches in southern locations. The results of this study suggest that the process of northward tree migration in the eastern United States is currently underway with rates approaching 100 km/century for many species.

Keywords: Climate change; Tree migration; United States; Forest; Seedlings; Latitude


…

[MADem]

6. Birds are doing the same thing.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090210/ap_on_sc/birds_global_warming

Study: Birds shifting north; global warming cited

WASHINGTON – When it comes to global warming, the canary in the coal mine isn't a canary at all. It's a purple finch.

As the temperature across the U.S. has gotten warmer, the purple finch has been spending its winters more than 400 miles farther north than it used to.

And it's not alone.
An Audubon Society study to be released Tuesday found that more than half of 305 birds species in North America, a hodgepodge that includes robins, gulls, chickadees and owls, are spending the winter about 35 miles farther north than they did 40 years ago.

The purple finch was the biggest northward mover. Its wintering grounds are now more along the latitude of Milwaukee, Wis., instead of Springfield, Mo.
....

[Javaman]

7. That explains the tree walking past my window yesterday. nt