##  [Current Symptoms of Climate Change in Boreal Forest Trees and Wildlife](/resource/current-symptoms-climate-change-boreal-forest-trees-and-wildlife) 

Organization

[University of New Brunswick (UNB)](/organization/university-new-brunswick-unb)

[Université du Québec à Rimouski](/organization/universite-du-quebec-rimouski)

[Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)](/organization/natural-resources-canada-nrcan)

[Southern Illinois University](/organization/southern-illinois-university)

 

 

Resource Type

[Book](/taxonomy/term/76)

 

 

Author(s)

Loïc D’Orangeville

Martin-Hugues St-Laurent

Laura Boisvert-Marsh

Xianliang Zhang

Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau

Malcolm Itter

 

 

Original Authors

Loïc D’Orangeville

Martin-Hugues St-Laurent

Laura Boisvert-Marsh

Xianliang Zhang

Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau

Malcolm Itter

 

 

Contacts

[Martin-Hugues St-Laurent ](/contact/martin-hugues-st-laurent)

[Loïc D’Orangeville](/contact/loic-dorangeville)

 

 

Resource Date:

2023

 

Page Length

25

 

 

This is a chapter from the book, [Boreal Forests in the Face of Climate Change: Sustainable Management ](https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-15988-6). Measuring climate change impacts on forest ecosystems can be challenging, as many of these changes are imperceptible within the typical time scale of short-term (e.g., 3–4 years) funding of research projects. Boreal trees are notoriously imperturbable, given their tolerance to harsh conditions and their adaptability. However, the buildup of decades of warming should now translate into measurable alterations of boreal ecosystem processes. The boreal forest is host to numerous northern animals; therefore, any change in boreal forest dynamics should affect wildlife. In this chapter, we aim to provide a nonexhaustive synthesis of documented impacts of climate change on selected key processes driving boreal forest ecosystem dynamics. We focus on the themes of plant and wildlife range shifts and stand growth and death, as they are keystone parameters of boreal forest ecosystem health that are symptomatic of climate change impacts on the boreal biota. For each theme, we introduce the general concepts and processes, convey some of the limitations of current assessments, and suggest future pressing challenges.