CCAMMO: Options for Natural Resource Managers
What is CCAMMO?
CCAMMO stands for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Management Options and is an interdisciplinary project with the goal of providing a state-of-the-science analysis of forest management options to guide natural resource decision making in the face of future climate change. The project is being led by the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station and involves SRS scientists, university scientists, and partners in other state and federal agencies throughout the southern U.S. It builds on the Southern Forest Futures Project and uses projections of future land cover, climate, and human population density as a guiding framework of possible future conditions in the southern U.S.
What will CCAMMO provide for Natural Resource Managers?
Building on current and historical strengths of the SRS, as well as the interdisciplinary expertise of SRS scientists and research partners, we will develop science-based management options that could be used to reduce threats or maintain/enhance the values of the southern forest ecosystems under future climates (Table 1).
Table 1. Threats and values of southern forest ecosystems
| Threats | Values |
|---|---|
| insects, disease, invasives | timber, fiber and carbon |
| wildfire | water quality and quantity |
| species and habitats | |
| wildlife | |
| aquatic | |
| vegetation | |
| recreation |
What are the Key Attributes of CCAMMO?
CCAMMO addresses critical concepts related to ecosystem resilience, vulnerability, and risk using common definitions and a consistent conceptual framework. Although CCAMMO utilizes the most relevant and recent science, it is more than a literature review. CCAMMO brings together science experts and land managers from various disciplines and regions throughout the south to combine science, models, and on-the-ground experience to develop management options. Utilizing decades of environmental monitoring data and silvicultural studies from experimental forests are among the key aspects of CCAMMO.
Process
CCAMMO was originally developed by a team of scientists and stakeholders at a workshop in Raleigh, NC in early spring 2010. Since that time, science teams have been analyzing data, applying models, interpreting potential responses, and developing management options. Science teams are using a consistent approach and databases for current and future land use and climate change projections. Where possible, specific analyses are being conducted by eco-regions defined by the Southern Forest Future project (Figure 1) and case studies are being used to provide examples of how information can be applied in a local management context.
Figure 1. Ecoregions used to develop specific management options.
Anticipated Research Products
The primary research product from CCAMMO will be a peer reviewed document published both in hard-copy and web-based (Figure 2). This document will serve as the foundation for various products that will be developed and implemented to ensure effective technology transfer, such as podcasts, webinars, workshops, etc.
Figure 2. Outline for CCAMMO book.
- Introduction
- Future Scenarios for the South
- Vulnerability and Risk Concepts & Assessments
- Ecological and Economic
- Social Vulnerability
- Wildfire
- Insects, Disease, Invasives
- Timber, Fiber, C Sequestration
- Water Quality & Quantity
- Species and Habitats
- Wildlife
- Aquatic
- Plants
- Recreation
- Integration & Interactions
Timeline
We anticipate that the document will be ready for peer review in October 2011 and the final product available by January 2012.
For More Information:
Contact
James M. Vose, Project Leader
USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station
Center for Integrated Forest Science and Synthesis
5223 Jordan Hall
College of Natural Resources
Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695
919-513-7367 (office)
828-506-0924 (cell)