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Climate change is affecting the species and communities that make up our forests in a myriad of ways. Dr. Morelli will present a synthesis of the impacts of climate change on the wildlife of the forests that cover much of the Midwest and northeastern U.S. Based on a mix of expert elicitation and literature review, she will show what species are predicted to be most vulnerable to climate change, as well as the uncertainty around those predictions. Tools to incorporate the latest science into management decisions in order to achieve climate change adaptation will also be reviewed.

Presentation Objectives:
     (1). Learn about the current and future impacts of climate change on forest wildlife
     (2). Gain knowledge about which forest species might be most vulnerable to climate change (and why).
     (3). Receive a list of tools for implementing climate change adaptation actions into management of forest wildlife.  

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has developed a Forest Ecology and Management course focused on advancing knowledge and skills for USFWS biologists, foresters and others who manage forests on refuges or partner lands to meet wildlife habitat needs and objectives. This webinar is an overview of the course which is designed to introduce biologists and others to the concepts of forest disturbance ecology, basic silvicultural approaches and the design of silvicultural prescriptions that will either emulate conditions more typical of natural disturbances or meet the needs for a particular set of species. The course covers field skills, stand exams, forest dynamics modeling, cruising, marking and harvesting. The course and presentation focus on using emulation of natural forest disturbances as a main thesis.