Climate change and forest trees in the Pacific Northwest: guide to vulnerability assessment methodology

This guide provides a step-by-step description of the methodology used to apply the Forest Tree Genetic Risk Assessment System (ForGRAS; Potter and Crane 2010) to the tree species of the Pacific Northwest in a recent climate change vulnerability assessment (Devine et al. 2012). We describe our modified version of the ForGRAS model, and we review the model’s basic principles and operation. We also discuss further adjustments to the model that managers may find useful if applying it to other regions or to fit other objectives. Chapter 2 of this guide describes the overall methodology of the vulnerability assessment; chapters 3 through 7 describe each of the five risk factors that we selected for the Pacific Northwest vulnerability assessment. Appendices provide step-by-step procedures used to prepare the model input data.