1. E. Kasischke, G. Hurtt, J. Hicke, S. Goward, J. Masek
Assessing the Impacts of Major Disturbance Events on North America’s Forest Carbon Budget During the Early 21st Century
E. Kasischke, G. Hurtt, J. Hicke, S. Goward, J. Masek
NACP 4th AIM
6 Feb 2013

2. Results from recent research
Increased burned area and fire severity has resulted in the boreal forests in the Yukon River Basin switching from a net C sink to a net source of carbon
Increased insect mortality in the western U.S. has increased the C source strength of the forests in this region
Increased burned area in the western U.S. has increased the C source strength of the forests in this region
Increased hurricane activity in the southeast U.S. has shifted the forests in this region from a net C sink to a net C source

3. Conterminous US (Pan et al.) 179 239 60
1990 to 1999
2000 to 2007
Change
1990s to 2000s
Conterminous US (Pan et al.)
179
239 60
Canada managed forests (Pan et al.) 26 10
-16
Total
205
249 44
NACP/CarboNA Results
Yukon River Basin Fires (Yuan, Kasischke et al.)
-15
Western U.S. Fires (Ghimer, Williams, et al.)
-10
Western US Insects (Edburgh, Hicke et al.)
Eastern US Hurricanes (Fiske, Hurtt et al.)
Net Disturbance Impacts
-50
Units are Tg C/yr

4. Suggested Future Activities
Paper focused on synthesizing results of research on natural disturbance impacts on forest C sink strength
Short term impacts vs. long-term legacies
Modeling synthesis focused on impacts of recent natural disturbances, including mega-disturbances (fire, insects, hurricanes) and diffuse disturbances (drought, forest die back, wind damage, etc.)
Modeling approaches (Fire emissions, inventory-based models, net biome production models)
Regional to continental scale models

5. Societal Importance of Natural Disturbances
Climate Policy and
Negotiations
Direct impacts on society
Threats to life, health, and property
Huge impacts on local and regional economies based on wood products
Effect a wide range of other ecosystem services
Stinson el 2011
See Tony Lempriere talk from Wed. a.m.