Silvicultural approaches to maintain forest health and productivity under current and future climates

Climate modeling based on a variety of scenarios for the Pacific Northwest suggests that over the next century temperatures may increase and that the abun- dance of summer precipitation may decline. Historically, climate changes at the century scale have been accompanied by adjustments in species population sizes and the composition of vegetation communities. Silvicultural practices may be employed to assist in forest adaptation to climate changes, principally by influencing stand structure and species composition throughout stand development. Forest managers might consider a primary silviculture objective over the next century of increasing forest vigor to increase both resistance and resilience to direct and indirect stresses arising from climate variation.