Tree selection should reflect your goals

Climate adaptation strategies for forests vary across a spectrum of options, and an effective strategy is to experiment with multiple approaches across a landscape. Extension has tree selection lists to guide you no matter which strategy you choose to help your forest adapt to the changing climate. 

These lists include several new-to-region species that may raise some eyebrows. We include these species on our selection lists not as a recommendation for the complete replacement of existing species but as options for adding species diversity to the existing forest to help you achieve your adaptation goals.

Make a plan you can support

Is it your goal to keep your forest as close to its current condition as possible? Take a resistance-focused approach by keeping tree selection the same as the existing species and focus your management on thinning to reduce competition, fire risk, drought stress and insect impacts.

Are you fond of the current forest but open to seeing some change? Resilience-focused management will allow you to improve tolerance to forest health issues through moderate change. In this case, you may choose species native to the region and predicted to respond well to future climate.

Maybe you’re ready to take a few small risks in your woodland, or perhaps even open to transitioning the forest type. The new-to-region species on our recommendation lists are modeled to do well in the future climate for that region, but their ability to survive in that region in the short term is unclear. These trees should be viewed as experimental opportunities to achieve your stated goals. As with any model, uncertainty exists surrounding the actual short-term survival of these species, especially given the complexities of ecological dynamics and site-specific conditions.

Make a hopeful difference

One nice thing about these lists is they give woodland stewards reasonable choices to make a positive impact in the face of the changing climate. This hope and agency are important for the mental health of humans. Planting a tree is the quintessential act of hope for a better future.

When we take time out of our busy schedules to buy, plant and care for a new tree we know that we, as individuals, are unlikely to see it mature. Instead, we are planting it with the hope that our kids, grandkids, or future stewards will have the gift of shade, fruit, nuts, timber, air and water quality, wildlife habitat — the list is almost endless. That act is ours, it’s hopeful, and it’s in nature. This is Active Hope and I’m glad we can offer it to our dedicated woodland stewards. 

Make it personal

Planting a tree is your choice based on your goals, your values, and your personal relationship with the land.

I recently planted a trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) even though it’s not predicted to do well in my area. Is it a risk because it’s modeled to do poorly? Yes. But I want to hear the leaves trembling from the upstairs bedroom, and my goal is traffic noise management via green infrastructure.

I’m also planting eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis) and sycamore (Platanus occidentalis). Those climate-ready species also meet other goals in my yard for critter-friendly trees that fit under power lines and provide shade. This is an example of identifying goals and finding trees that achieve those goals.