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Hazy Forest
Creative Commons

Evidence for declining forest resilience to wildfires under climate change

Kerry Kemp, a forest ecologist for the Oregon Nature Conservancy, studies forest resiliency, or the ability of forests to come back after wildfire or other major disturbances. For new trees to grow in the forest, living ones must be nearby to act as seed sources. And then once those seeds start growing, they’re more susceptible to drought than established trees. “The resilience of these forests is likely to be lower when there’s a mismatch between the current climate and the climate niche for tree regeneration,” Kemp said. “As the climate changes, a given location may no longer be capable of supporting tree regrowth the way it could when temperatures were lower and weather patterns were different. In some parts of the West, it’s already happening,” she said.

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firey-sky
Evan Wright/Fremont-Winema National Forest

We know climate change set the conditions for Oregon fires. Did it stoke the flames, too?

I thought you might appreciate this article that examines what's happening out West; it's a snapshot of how a changing climate is changing our landscapes.

“Most of the truly unprecedented extreme weather disasters we’ve seen in recent summers throughout the Northern Hemisphere—the floods and heatwaves and droughts. Most of them…have been associated with these resonance [wavy jet stream] events,” [Dr. Michael] Mann said. “And they are getting more frequent because of human-caused planetary warming…”

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Bumblebee Two
Pixabay

Climate change puts bees and flowering plants out of sync

You and your land trust can help your community understand the necessity of acting on climate to save the bees—including the importance of solar developments that are designed as pollinator habitat.

Warmer spring temperatures are causing bees to hatch earlier, putting them out of sync with the flowers that they pollinate, a new study shows.

The researchers say the study is the first of its kind to show climate change affecting the sort of relationships between species that have evolved together over millions of years…

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Bumblebee One
Creative Commons

Out of sync: USU ecologists report climate change affecting bee, plant life cycles

There's research documenting similar findings throughout the country and the world. You and your land trust can help your community understand the necessity of acting on climate to save the bees—including the importance of solar developments that are designed as pollinator habitat.

Reporting on the first community-wide assessment of 67 bee species of the Colorado Rockies, ecologists Michael Stemkovski of Utah State University and Rebecca Irwin of North Carolina State University say “phenological mismatch,” changing timing of life cycles between bees and flowers, caused by climate change, has the potential to disrupt a mutually beneficial relationship…

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Solar And Sunflowers
Engie Distributed Solar

Michigan opens 3.3M farmland acres to bee-friendly solar projects

Recognizing the increasing compatibility of solar with rural land conservation, Michigan recently amended its farmland preservation rules to allow solar development on protected farmland, provided that the solar project met the state’s pollinator-friendly standards...

Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday announced an executive decision that frees up 3.3 million acres of farmland protected under the state’s Farmland and Open Space Program to solar development. Previously, the land was allowed to host wind turbines and oil and gas exploration, but solar was historically restricted because it was considered to have a larger footprint…

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Solar Panels
Pixabay

Want to get involved with solar grazing?

Time is running out to have a meaningful impact on climate change (to save the lands and waters we love), but the solutions are here. You and your land trust can help people understand both the importance of and the need for changing the paradigm. Check out American Solar Grazing Association for webinars, resources, and conversations with farmers on solar, grazing, and farm viability.

he American Solar Grazing Association (ASGA) was founded to promote grazing sheep on solar installations.

ASGA members are developing best practices that support shepherds and solar developers to both effectively manage solar installations and create new agribusiness profits…

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Solar And Pollinators
Center for Pollinators in Energy at Fresh Energy

The evolution of rural solar: from panel monocrops to multiple land uses

Time is running out to have a meaningful impact on climate change (to save the lands and waters we love), but the solutions are here. You and your land trust can help people understand both the importance of and the need for changing the paradigm. Check out American Solar Grazing Association for webinars, resources, and conversations with farmers on solar, grazing, and farm viability.

In farming, companion planting of certain crops in close proximity can provide an array of benefits: from pest control, to flavor enhancement, to increased productivity.

The same concept can be applied to rural solar projects, which have the opportunity to integrate with other land uses, such as crops or pollinator-friendly plantings, and create win-win outcomes for rural communities…

Recognizing the increasing compatibility of solar with rural land conservation, Michigan recently amended its farmland preservation rules to allow solar development on protected farmland, provided that the solar project met the state’s pollinator-friendly standards…

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Bold Light On Grasslands
Pixabay

Grasslands may be more reliable carbon sinks than forests in California

Unlike trees, grasslands store most of their carbon underground, in their roots and the soil.

And that makes them more reliable “carbon sinks” than forests, according to this 2018 University of California at Davis study. Because carbon is stored in the soil, it is not released back into the atmosphere when grasslands burn, as it is when trees go up in flames…

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Elder On The Prairie
Allison V. Smith for Washington Post

Storing carbon in the prairie grass: plans would pay landowners to keep the ecosystem in a natural state to fight climate change

One acre of pristine prairie can store about five tons of carbon. University of California at Davis continues to research the importance of prairies and the vulnerability of trees.

Scientists say the world needs to cut greenhouse gas emissions nearly in half by mid-century to avert catastrophic effects from global warming. Carbon dioxide is the most prevalent greenhouse gas; the amount in the atmosphere has been rising as humans burn fossil fuels. Not only must the world stop releasing more carbon, some CO2 already in the air also must be removed, experts say.

Unlike trees, grasslands store most of their carbon underground, in their roots and the soil.

And that makes them more reliable “carbon sinks” than forests, according to a 2018 University of California at Davis study. Because carbon is stored in the soil, it is not released back into the atmosphere when grasslands burn, as it is when trees go up in flames…

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Nature Trail In The Fall
Creative Commons

What impact do seas, lakes, and rivers have on people’s health?

Most of us recognize the calming effect of a walk by the river or along a beach. Victorian doctors used to prescribe the “sea air” as a cure for an assortment of agues and ailments. But while the health benefits of green space are now well known, thanks to the pioneering research of Roger Ulrich and the Kaplans among others, little analysis has been made of “blue space” – the impact of the sea, rivers, lakes, and even urban water features on our health and wellbeing.

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