Forest disturbance regimes—defined by their size, frequency, and severity—are projected to intensify under ongoing global warming, impacting vegetation productivity, growth, and vitality. Hotter droughts, in particular, are driving widespread canopy dieback and increasing tree mortality rates. A robust assessment of forest vulnerability and the mechanisms underpinning responses to disturbance is essential for characterizing climate risks and informing adaptation strategies.
This session invites contributions that address climate change effects on forest ecosystems across scales and biomes, from observations to projections. In particular, we seek submissions on:
• Quantification of how natural and anthropogenic disturbances influence forest productivity, health, and growth.
• Multidisciplinary approaches (from ground to remote sensing) to monitoring tree vulnerability at local, regional, and global levels.
• Mapping and forecasting forest mortality and dieback under diverse climate change scenarios.
• Mechanistic and data-driven models of climate and environmental controls on forest vigor and growth, across scales and processes (e.g., wood formation, leaf phenology, shoot growth, canopy dynamics).
• Vulnerability of old-growth and senescent forests to climate change.
• Assessment of forest resilience to drought and other extreme events (e.g., frost, freeze–thaw cycles).
• Standardization of growth-monitoring techniques for forests experiencing extreme climate events (heat waves, droughts, cold spells).
• Adaptive management strategies to mitigate forest vulnerability.
• Decision-support tools for forestry and land management that integrate multiple stakeholders and multifunctional objectives.