Empirical analysis of climate change impact on loblolly pine plantations in the southern United States

Few studies have empirically examined climate change impacts on managed forests in the southern United States. In this paper, we use the U.S. Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis Database to fit two growth models across the South and apply the four Hadley III climate scenarios developed for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth assessment Report to project future growth and site productivity on loblolly pine plantations. The static growth model provides a direct test of whether a significant climate influence on forest growth can be statistically derived, while the dynamic growth model estimates climate effects through site productivity. Results indicate considerable spatial variation in potential future growth and productivity change on loblolly pine plantations due to climate change in the southern United States, while overall regional effects are projected to be marginal. The pattern of climate change impacts is consistent across the growth models and climate scenarios. These findings have several implications for climate change adaptation policies