Climatology Research

Overview
Current Focus Areas
Research Highlights
Extension and Consultations
Recent Publications and Presentations
Useful Links
Ministry Contact

Overview

Forest and range climate can be considered at a variety of scales, from global climate changes that affect large-scale weather and ecological patterns, to microclimate factors that affect the growth of a planted seedling. Forestry activities can modify the climate conditions at many scales, including site microclimate and its effects on ecosystem development and off-site impacts resulting from changes in stream runoff.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has unequivocally affirmed the warming of our climate system and linked it directly to human activity, such as anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and other “greenhouse gases” (global warming) and deforestation. The continued increase in greenhouse gas concentration over the next century could result in an increase in mean annual temperatures in British Columbia of 3 - 5°C and changes in precipitation regimes. The rate of warming will be faster than has occurred in the past and there will be an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme temperature and precipitation events. Although ecosystems and species have responded to past changes in climate, future responses may not be compatible with our desires or current patterns of use.

The Research Branch’s Climatology research program aims to improve our understanding of the influence of climate on forest and range management. Researchers develop tools and management options for addressing the effects of current climate as well as future climate on forest and range ecosystems. This research is fundamental to the Future Forest Ecosystems Initiative, and has implications for addressing current issues such as mountain pine beetle impacts, wildland fire management, second-growth management, riparian management, and gene conservation. 

Current Focus Areas

• Conducting process-oriented studies on the energy, water, and carbon balances of forested ecosystems and forest management.
• Studying and comparing the annual water balance of high-elevation lodgepole pine forests, clearcuts, and regenerating stands, including snow and rainfall interception and snowmelt.
• Studying the forest carbon balance and the impacts of large-scale disturbances such as the mountain pine beetle outbreak. [link]  
• Conducting research and extension on how forest microclimate influences plant growth and reforestation efforts.
• Studying the potential impact of climate change on forests and considering options for adapting forest management practices in the future.
• Studying the changes in forest canopy across various stages of mountain pine beetle attack, including effects on radiation and light, snowmelt, summer evaporation, and light availability for regeneration.
• Providing expert opinion on the implications of climate change and the forest carbon balance for forest and range management to Ministry executive, academics, industry, and the general public.
• Modelling the potential effects of climate change on the carbon balance of B.C.’s forests.
• Expanding the range and functionality of the ClimateBC program, which matches geographically based historical weather data with climate change scenarios to produce values for biological parameters relevant to assessing forest and range vulnerabilities to current and future climates.

Research Highlights

• Released a scientific paper, Climate Change, Impacts and Adaptation Scenario, as one of the foundation papers for the Ministry’s Future Forest Ecosystems Initiative, a response to managing British Columbia’s forest and range resources under a changing climate (access the report here).
• Participating in a carbon flux study in northern British Columbia to assess how mountain pine beetle disturbance is changing the forest carbon balance. This is part of a national Canadian research network studying carbon cycling.
• Participating in a carbon flux study on Vancouver Island to assess the influence of fertilization of Douglas-fir forests on carbon uptake. This is part of a national Canadian research network studying carbon cycling.
• Initiated a study to assess impacts of climate change on the carbon balance of British Columbia’s forest and range ecosystems, using the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector.

• Presented research results at several southern interior extension events–  Mountain pine beetle and watershed hydrology workshop: preliminary results of research from BC, Alberta and Colorado [abstracts] and The Upper Penticton Creek Watershed Experiment: Results of a paired watershed study into the effects of forest management on water resources [more] as well as a scientific gathering of the Canadian Geophysical Union in Newfoundland.

• Synthesized 12 years of baseline data at the Upper Penticton Creek Watershed Experiment. This research is addressing concerns about the sustainability of water supplies in the dry south-central interior and the potential effects of forest land use on aquatic resources. [more]
• Contributed to a synthesis document From Impacts to Adaptation: Canada in a Changing Climate 2007, a scientific assessment of climate change impacts and adaptation. This report will reflect the advances made in understanding Canada’s vulnerability to climate change over the past decade. [more]
• Improving accessibility and functionality of ClimateBC, including generating gridded data for use in geographic information systems, and incorporating the program's output into the HectaresBC website. ClimateBC applications have included determining the climate of ecological units, predicting shifts in the geographic distribution of vegetation, estimating precipitation regimes in areas currently not monitored, and investigating changes in snow accumulation and snowmelt.
• Tripling the spatial area covered by ClimateBC by incorporating climate data for the prairie provinces and the western United States to capture the entire ranges of many western North American species.
• Conducting long-term climatology research at the Carnation Creek Study Area with almost 30 years of data on the effects of forest harvesting in a coastal watershed. This research is providing valuable information for defining Ecosystem-Based Management practices on the coast.

Extension and Consultations

Future Forest Ecosystems Initiative, Technical Advisor – Improving our understanding of future climate scenarios and their impacts on ecosystem resilience. Completed a scientific foundation paper Climate change and BC’s forest and range management: climate change, impacts & adaptation scenarios. [available here]

Canadian Society for Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Western Director – A group of scientists, professors, students, and environmental consultants who have a special interest in the interaction between vegetated surfaces and the atmosphere.

Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium, University of Victoria – A research consortium that conducts collaborative research and supplies climate information.

Recent Publications and Presentations

Spittlehouse, D.L. 2009. Adapting to Climate Change in Forest Management – A Management Agency Response. Mountain Views, 3(1):11-13.

Williamson, T.B., S.J. Colombo, P.N. Duinker, P.A. Gray, R.J. Hennessey, D. Houle, M.H. Johnston, A.E. Ogden, and D.L. Spittlehouse. 2009. Climate change and Canada’s forests: from impacts to adaptation. Sustain. For. Manag. Netw. and Nat. Resour. Can., Can. For. Serv., North. For. Cent., Edmonton, AB.  [PDF 4446KB]

Jassal, J.S., T.A. Black, B. Chen, R. Roy, Z. Nesic, D.L. Spittlehouse, and J.A. Trofymow. 2008. N2O emissions and carbon sequestration in a nitrogen-fertilized Douglas fir stand. J. Geophysical Res. 113, G04013, doi:10.1029/2008JG000764.

Moore, R.D., D.L. Spittlehouse, P.H. Whitfield, and K. Stahl. 2008. Chapter 3 — Weather and Climate. In Compendium of Forest Hydrology and Geomorphology in British Columbia. B.C. Min. For. Range, Res. Br., Victoria, B.C. and FORREX, Kamloops, B.C. [link]

Pike, R.G., D.L. Spittlehouse, K.E. Bennett, V.N. Egginton, P.J. Tschaplinski, T.Q. Murdock, and A.T. Werner. 2008a. Climate Change and Watershed Hydrology: Part I – Recent and Projected Changes in British Columbia. Streamline. 11: 1-8.

Pike, R.G., D.L. Spittlehouse, K.E. Bennett, V.N. Egginton, P.J. Tschaplinski, T.Q. Murdock, and A.T. Werner. 2008b. Climate Change and Watershed Hydrology: Part II – Hydrologic Implications for British Columbia. Streamline. 11: 8-13.

Pike, R.G., D.L. Spittlehouse, K.E. Bennett, V.N. Egginton, P.J. Tschaplinski, T.Q. Murdock, and A.T. Werner. 2008c. A Summary of Climate Change Effects on Watershed Hydrology. B.C. Min. For. Range, Res. Br., Victoria, B.C. Exten. Note 87.

Spittlehouse, D.L. 2008. Climate change, impacts, and adaptation scenarios: climate change and forest and range management in British Columbia. B.C. Min. For. Range, Res. Br., Victoria, B.C. Tech. Rep. 045.

Spittlehouse, D.L. and V.N. Egginton. 2008. Evaluation of hemispherical photography for determining the short and longwave radiation balance below forest canopies. Paper presented at the 28th Conference on Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, May 2008.

Weiler, M., D. Spittlehouse, R. Winkler, D. Carlyle-Moses, G. Jost, D. Hutchinson, S. Hamilton, P. Marquis, E. Quilty, R.D. Moore, J. Richardson, P. Jordan, P. Teti, and N. Coops. [2008]. watershed measurement methods and data limitations. In Compendium of forest hydrology and geomorphology in British Columbia. R.G. Pike et al. (editors). B.C. Min. For. Range Res. Br., Victoria, B.C. and Forest Research Extension Partnership (FORREX), Kamloops, B.C. Land Manage. Hand. Chap. 15. In press. [link]

Useful Links

Climate Change

Carbon

Ministry Contact

Dave Spittlehouse, Research Climatologist
 

Ministry contact: Evelyn Hamilton.
Please direct questions regarding webpage to For.Prodres@gov.bc.ca
Updated May 2009