Climatology Research

Overview
Current Focus Areas
Research Highlights
Extension and Consultations
Recent Publications and Presentations
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.

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. [more]

• 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]
• Initiating two new research projects to increase the spatial range of ClimateBC, and improve user access to data for climate change studies. ClimateBC provides high-resolution spatial climate data for current and future climate-change scenarios. Applications have included determining climate regimes of ecological units and predicting vegetation shifts, estimating precipitation regimes in areas currently not monitored, and investigating changes in snow accumulation and snowmelt.
• 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

Brown, M., T.A. Black, Z. Nesic, A. Fredeen, P. Jackson, P. Burton, T. Trofymow, D. Spittlehouse, D. Gaumont-Guay, R. Ketler, D. Lessard, N. Grant, A. Sauter, V. Egginton, and A. Hum. 2007. Impact of the mountain pine beetle on the carbon balance of lodgepole pine stands in western Canada. Poster presented at the Kennedy Siding Mountain Pine Beetle Research Field Trip, October 30, 2007.

Johnston, M., T. Williamson, D. Price, D. Spittlehouse, A. Wellstead, P. Gray, D. Scott, S. Askew, and S. Webber. 2006. Adapting forest management to the impacts of climate change in Canada. Final report to BIOCAP Research Integration Program, Queens Univ., Kingston, Ont. [pdf]

Moore, R.D., D.L. Spittlehouse, P. Whitfield, and K. Stahl. [2008]. Weather and Climate. 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 Manag. Hand. Cap 3.  In press. [link] 

Nigh, G.D. 2006. Impact of climate, moisture regime, and nutrient regime on the productivity of Douglas-fir in coastal British Columbia, Canada. Climatic Change  76:321–337. [abstract]

Redding, T., R. Winkler, D. Carlyle-Moses, and D. L. Spittlehouse. 2007. Mayson Lake study examines hydrological processes. LINK 9(2): 10-11. [pdf]

Spittlehouse, D.L. 2006. Adaptation to climate change in forestry. BC Forest Professional, Sept.–Oct., pp. 22–23. [pdf]

Spittlehouse, D.L. 2006. Annual water balance of high elevation forests and clearcuts. Proceedings 27th Conference on Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, May 21-25 2006, San Diego, Calif. American Meteorological Society, Boston, Mass.

Spittlehouse, D.L. 2006. Annual water balance of forest clearcuts and regenerating stands. In Proceedings of Forest and Water in a Changing Environment, Aug. 8–10, 2006, Beijing, China.

Spittlehouse, D.L. 2006. ClimateBC offers high spatial resolution climate data for BC. BC Forest Professional, Sept.–Oct., p.15. [pdf]

Spittlehouse, D.L. 2006. ClimateBC: Your access to interpolated climate data for BC. BC Agrologist, Spring issue.

Spittlehouse, D.L. 2006. ClimateBC: Your access to interpolated climate data for BC. BioNews, Spring issue.

Spittlehouse, D.L. 2006. ClimateBC: Your access to interpolated climate data for BC. Streamline Watershed Management Bulletin 99:16–21. [pdf]

Spittlehouse, D.L. 2006. Overview of climate change in British Columbia. In Multidisciplinary approaches to recovering mountain caribou in mountain ecosystems. Columbia Mountains Inst. Applied Ecology, Revelstoke, B.C., pp. 44–51. [pdf]

Spittlehouse, D.L. 2006. Tools for scientists: High spatial resolution climate data for BC. Island Geoscience Newsletter Vol. 3(2), pp. 2–4.

Spittlehouse, D.L. 2007. Climate change, impacts & adaptation strategies: Climate change and BC’s forest and range management. Produced for the Future Forest Ecosystems Initiative, Victoria, B.C. 42 p.

Spittlehouse, D.L. 2007. The influence of mountain pine beetle on site water balance of lodgepole pine forests. Workshop presentation at Mountain pine beetle and watershed hydrology workshop: preliminary results of research from BC, Alberta and Colorado. FORREX, B.C. Min. For. Range, B.C.Min. Env., Canadian Water Resources Association. Jul. 10, 2007, Kelowna, B.C. [abstracts] 

Spittlehouse, D. L. 2007. Stand water balance. Workshop presentation at The Upper Penticton Creek Watershed Experiment: Results of a paired watershed study into the effects of forest management on water resources. FORREX and B.C. Min. For. Range, Jul. 11, 2007, Kelowna, B.C. [more] 

Spittlehouse, D.L., M. Eng, A. Hamann, D. Meidinger, and T.L. Wang. 2006. Spatial climate data and assessment of climate change impacts on forest ecosystems. Final Report for Forest Science Program Project Y062149, B.C. Min. For. Range, Res. Br., Victoria, B.C. [pdf]

Wang, T., A. Hamann, D.L. Spittlehouse, and S.N. Aitken. 2006. Development of scale-free climate data for western Canada for use in resource management. International Journal of Climatology 26:383–397. [pdf]

Wang, T., A. Hamann, A. Yanchuk, G.A. O’Neill, and S.N. Aitken. 2006. Use of response functions in selecting lodgepole pine populations for future climates. Global Change Biology 12(12):2404-2416. [abstract]

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 Link

Climate Change

Ministry Contact

Dave Spittlehouse, Research Climatologist
 

Ministry contact: Evelyn Hamilton.
Please direct questions regarding webpage to For.Prodres@gov.bc.ca
Updated February 2008