GLOBAL CLIMATE-CHANGE ADAPTATION - EXAMPLES FROM RUSSIAN BOREAL FORESTS

The Russian Federation contains approximately 20% of the world's timbe r resources and more than half of all boreal forests. These forests pl ay a prominent role in environmental protection and economic developme nt at global, national, and local levels, as well as, provide commodit ies for indigenous people and habitat for a variety of plant and anima l species. The response and feedbacks of Russian boreal forests to pro jected global climate change are expected to be profound. Large shifts in the distribution (up to 19% area reduction) and productivity of bo real forests are implied by scenarios of General Circulation Models (G CMs), Uncertainty regarding the potential distribution and productivit y of future boreal forests complicates the development of adaptation s trategies for forest establishment, management, harvesting and wood pr ocessing. Although a low potential exists for rapid natural adaptation of long lived, complex boreal forests, recent analyses suggest Russia n forest management and utilization strategies should be field tested to assess their potential to assist boreal forests in adaptation to a changing global environment. Current understanding of the vulnerabilit y of Russian forest resources to projected climate change is discussed and examples of possible adaptation measures for Russian forests are presented, including: (1) artificial forestation techniques that can b e applied with the advent of failed natural regeneration and to facili tate forest migration northward; (2) silvicultural measures that can i nfluence the species mix to maintain productivity under future climate s; (3) identifying forests at risk and developing special management a daptation measures for them; (4) alternative processing and uses of wo od and non-wood products from future forests; and (5) potential future infrastructure and transport systems that can be employed as boreal f orests shift northward into melting permafrost zones. Current infrastr ucture and technology can be employed to help Russian boreal forests a dapt to projected global environmental change, however many current fo rest management practices may have to be modified. Application of this technical knowledge can help policymakers identify priorities for cli mate change adaptation.