Cited by 854Forest Management and PolicyPlant Water Relations and Carbon DynamicsFire effects on ecosystems

Climate-driven risks to the climate mitigation potential of forests

Anderegg, William R. L., Trugman, Anna T., Badgley, Grayson, Anderson, Christa M., Bartuska, Ann, Ciais, Philippe, Cullenward, Danny, Field, Christopher B. +8 more·2020·Science

Abstract

Risks to mitigation potential of forests: Much recent attention has focused on the potential of trees and forests to mitigate ongoing climate change by acting as sinks for carbon. Anderegg et al. review the growing evidence that forests' climate mitigation potential is increasingly at risk from a range of adversities that limit forest growth and health. These include physical factors such as drought and fire and biotic factors, including the depredations of insect herbivores and fungal pathogens. Full assessment and quantification of these risks, which themselves are influenced by climate, is key to achieving science-based policy outcomes for effective land and forest management. Science , this issue p. eaaz7005

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1126/science.aaz7005

Cites

131 of 131 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • The West Coast experiences catastrophic wildfires fueled by climate change-driven droughts and a hundred years of misinformed forest management strategies.

    “At the same time, the West Coast experiences catastrophic wildfires fueled by climate change-driven droughts [2] and a hundred years of misinformed forest management strategies [35],Steel, Safford, and [24, 38].”
  • Climate change impacts amplify the impacts of forest mismanagement.

    “These climate change impacts also amplify the impacts of forest mismanagement (12) (Section 3).”

    From Restoring Degraded Lands (2021) · cites this paper as [12]

  • Future climate change is expected to accelerate degradation most strongly through weather extremes (heatwaves, drought, floods) and associated episodic events such as wildfire and insect outbreaks, because these extremes override positive impacts from trends in temperature, precipitation, or CO2.

    “Future climate change is expected to accelerate degradation most strongly through weather extremes (heatwaves, drought, floods) and associated episodic events such as wildfire and insect outbreaks (12), given that these extremes override the positive impacts that might arise from trends in temperature, precipitation, or CO 2 .”

    From Restoring Degraded Lands (2021) · cites this paper as [12]

  • Relying on forests for long-term carbon sequestration is a risk, particularly for monocultures with high vulnerability to storms, fire, or pest outbreaks.

    “Furthermore, relying on forests for long-term carbon sequestration is a risk, particularly for monocultures with high vulnerability to storms, fire, or pest outbreaks (12,116).”

    From Restoring Degraded Lands (2021) · cites this paper as [12]

  • Future climate change will cause shifts in species distributions and ranges that may go beyond the boundaries of static protected areas and/or increase the number and frequency of episodic, forest stand-destroying events such as wildfire or insect and pest outbreaks.

    “Future climate change will cause shifts in species distributions and ranges that may go beyond the boundaries of static protected areas and/or increase the number and frequency of episodic, forest stand-destroying events such as wildfire or insect and pest outbreaks (12).”

    From Restoring Degraded Lands (2021) · cites this paper as [12]

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Authors
Anderegg, W. R. L., Trugman, A. T., Badgley, G., Anderson, C. M., Bartuska, A., Ciais, P., Cullenward, D., Field, C. B., Freeman, J., Goetz, S. J., Hicke, J. A., Huntzinger, D., Jackson, R. B., Nickerson, J., Pacala, S., & Randerson, J. T.
Affiliations
  • University of Utah (US)
  • University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
  • World Wildlife Fund (US)
  • Resources For The Future (US)
  • Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
  • Stanford University (US)
  • CarbonPlan, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA.
  • Northern Arizona University (US)
  • University of Idaho (US)
  • Climate Action Reserve, Los Angeles, CA 90017, USA.
  • Princeton University (US)
  • University of California, Irvine (US)
Corresponding author
Anderegg, William R. L.
Venue
Science
Published
2020-06-19
Volume
368
Issue
6497
ISSN
  • 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
  • 1095-9203
OpenAlex
W3035911052
Cited by
854
References
129
Citations by year
2026: 152 · 2025: 183 · 2024: 159 · 2023: 138 · 2022: 107 · 2021: 99 · 2020: 15
FWCI
4.88
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Science (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • HAL (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • David and Lucile Packard Foundation (NA)
  • United States Department of Agriculture (2018-67019-27850, 2018-67012-28020)
  • US National Science Foundation (1714972, 1802880, DMS-1520873)
  • NASA Earth Ventures (NNL15AA03C)
  • NASA Applied Sciences (NNX17AG51G)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Forest Management and Policy
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Fire effects on ecosystems
Keywords
forest carbon sink, forest stability, natural climate solutions, forest carbon sequestration, forest fires, drought, biotic disturbance, vegetation modeling, remote sensing of forests, climate change mitigation
MeSH terms
Fires, Policy Making, Droughts, Climate Change, Carbon Sequestration, Forests

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