Central Hardwoods Climate Change Response Framework

Project Summary

The Central Hardwoods Climate Change Response Framework covers 42 million acres of southern Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana within Ecological Province 222 (Eastern Broadleaf Forest-Continental) of the National Hierarchical Framework of Ecological Units. Provinces are broad geographic areas that share similar coarse features, such as climate, glacial history, and vegetation types. The portion of Ecological Province 222 within the analysis area is a mosaic of natural communities characterized by oak-hickory forests, woodlands and savannas.

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Outcomes

A team representing federal and state land management agencies, private forest owners, conservation organizations, and others from Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri have come together to accomplish three objectives:

1. Provide a forum to share the experiences and lessons learned of managers and scientists regarding forest management and climate change in the Central Hardwoods region of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana.
2. Develop new user-friendly tools that can help public and private land managers include climate change considerations in decision-making, including a forest ecosystem vulnerability assessment and a forest adaptation resources document.
3. Support efforts by public land managers, private landowners, and conservation organizations to put these new tools to work on the ground across the Central Hardwoods region.

Leslie Brandt is coordinating the Central Hardwoods Climate Change Response Framework.

Collaborators

• American Bird Conservancy
• Central Hardwoods Joint Venture
• GIS and Spatial Analysis Laboratory at University of Missouri
• Gulf Coast Plains and Ozarks Landscape Conservation Cooperative
• Hoosier National Forest
• Illinois Department of Natural Resources Office of Resource Conservation
• Mark Twain National Forest
• Missouri Botanical Garden
• Missouri Department of Conservation
• MTU School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science
• Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science
• Shawnee National Forest
• The Nature Conservancy
• USDA Forest Service Eastern Region
• USDA Forest Service Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry
• USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station
• USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station: Climate, Fire, and Carbon Cycle Sciences