Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T03:14:25.824Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Impacts of Climate Change on Economics of Forestry and Adaptation Strategies in the Southern United States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2015

Andres Susaeta
Affiliation:
School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
Douglas R. Carter
Affiliation:
School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
Damian C. Adams
Affiliation:
School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida

Abstract

This article analyzes the impacts of different levels of forest productivity scenarios, disturbance risk, and salvageable rates resulting from climate change on the economics of loblolly pine in the southern United States. Potential adaptation strategies examined include reduction in planting density and use of slash pine instead of loblolly pine. Economic returns are most sensitive to changes in disturbance risk and productivity changes as compared with the salvage rate, planting density, or species selection. Loblolly pine with low planting density economically outperforms high-density loblolly pine. Slash pine is generally a less viable option compared with loblolly pine in most cases.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ainsworth, E.A. and Long, S.P.. “What Have We Learned from 15 Years of Free-Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE)? A Meta-Analytic Review of the Responses of Photosynthesis, Canopy Properties and Plant Production to Rising CO2. The New Phytologist 165(2005):351372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alig, R.J.Adams, D.M., and McCarl, B.A.. “Projecting Impacts of Global Climate Change on the U.S. Forest and Agriculture Sectors and Carbon Budgets”. Forest Ecology and Management 169(2002):314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amacher, G.S.Malik, A., and Haight, R.. “Forest Landowner Decisions and the Value of Information under Fire Risk”. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 35(2005):26032615.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amacher, G.S.Ollikainen, M., and Koskela, E.A.. Economics of Forest Resources. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2009.Google Scholar
Barlow, R.J. and Dubois, M.R.. “Cost and Cost Trends for Forestry Practices in the South”. Forest Landowner Magazine 6(2011): 1624.Google Scholar
Barnett, J.P., and Sheffield, R.M.. “Slash Pine: Characteristics, History, Status and Trends”. Slash Pine: Still Growing and Growing. Dickens, E.D., Barnett, J.R, Hubbard, W.G., and Jokela, E.L., eds. Ashville, NC: U.S.Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-76, 2004.Google Scholar
Barry, P.J.Doggett, C., Anderson, R.L., and Swain, K.M.. How to Evaluate and Manage Storm-damaged Forest Areas. Atlanta, GA: U.S.Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Region Management Bulletin R8-MB 63, 1998.Google Scholar
Buongiorno, J. “Generalization of Faustmann's Formula for Stochastic Forest Growth and Prices with Markov Decision Process Models”. Forest Science 47(2001):466474.Google Scholar
Chang, S.J. “A Generalized Faustmann Model for the Determination of the Optimal Harvest Age”. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 48(1998):652659.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chmura, D.J.Anderson, P.D., Howe, G.T., Harrington, C.A., Halofsky, J.E., Peterson, D.L., Shaw, D.C., and St Clair, J.B.. “Forest Responses to Climate Change in the Northwestern United States: Ecophysiological Foundations for Adaptive Management”. Forest Ecology and Management 261(2011):11211142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christensen, J.H.Hewitson, B., Busuioc, A., Chen, A., Gao, X., Held, I., Jones, R., Kolli, R.K., Kwon, W.-T., Laprise, R., Magaña Rueda, V., Mearns, L., Menéndez, C.G., Raisanen, J., Rinke, A., Sarr, A., and Whetton, P.. “Regional Climate Projections”. Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Solomon, S., Qin, D., Manning, M., Chen, Z., Marquis, M., Averyt, K.B., Tignor, M., and Miller, H.L., eds. Cambridge, UK, and New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2007.Google Scholar
D'Amato, A.W.Bradford, J.B., Fraver, S., and Palik, B.J.. “Forest Management for Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change: Insights from Long-Term Silviculture Experiments”. Forest Ecology and Management 262(2011):803816.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dwivedi, P.Bailis, R., Stainback, G.A., and Carter, D.R.. “Impact of Payments for Carbon Sequestered in Wood Products and Avoided Carbon Emissions on the Profitability of NIPF Landowners in the US South”. Ecological Economics 78(2012):6369.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faustmann, M. “Calculation of the Value which Forest Land and Immature Stands Possess for Forestry”. Journal of Forest Economics 1(1995):744.Google Scholar
Florida Forestry Association—Pines and Needles. Internet site: http://floridaforest.org/wp-content/uploads/PN_SepOct.pdf (Accessed April 9, 2013).Google Scholar
Fox, T.R. “Species Deployment Strategies for the Southern Pines: Site Specific Management Practices for the Flatwoods of Georgia and Florida”. Slash Pine: Still Growing and Growing. Dickens, E.D., Barnett, J.P., Hubbard, W.G., and Jokela, E.L., eds. Ashville, NC: U.S.Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Gen. Tech. Rep.SRS-76, 2004.Google Scholar
Goetz, R.U.Hritinenki, N., Mur, R., Xabadia, A., and Yatsenko, Y.. “Forest Management for Timber and Carbon Sequestration in the Presence of Climate Change: The Case of Pinus Sylvestris”. Ecological Economics 88(2013): 8696.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haight, R.G.Smith, W.D., and Straka, T.J.. “Hurricanes and the Economics of Loblolly Pine Plantations”. Forest Science 41(1995): 675688.Google Scholar
Hanewinkel, M.Hummel, S., and Cullmann, D.. “Modelling and Economic Evaluation of Forest Biome Shifts under Climate change in Southwest Germany”. Forest Ecology and Management 259(2010):710719.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanley, N.Banerjee, S., Lennox, G.D., and Armsworth, P.R.. “How Should We Incentivize Private Landowners to Produce More Biodiversity?” Oxford Review of Economic Policy 28(2012):93113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrison, W.M. and Borders, B.E.. Yield Prediction and Growth Projection for Site-prepared Loblolly Pine Plantations in the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama and Florida. Athens, GA: University of Georgia, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, Plantation Management Research Cooperative, PRMC Technical Report 1996-1, 1996.Google Scholar
Huang, J.Abt, B., Kindermann, G., and Ghosh, S.. “Empirical Analysis of Climate Change Impact on Loblolly Pine Plantations in the Southern United States”. Natural Resource Modeling 24(2011):445476.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jeuck, J. and Duncan, D.. Economics of Harvesting Woody Biomass in North Carolina. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina Cooperative Extension, 2009.Google Scholar
Kallarackal, J. and Roby, T.J.. “Responses of Trees to Elevated Carbon Dioxide and Climate Change”. Biodiversity and Conservation 21(2012): 13271342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karl, T.R.Melillo, J.M., and Peterson, T.C.. Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States: A State of Knowledge Report from the U.S. Global Change Research Program. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2009.Google Scholar
Kirilenko, A.P. and Sedjo, R.A.. “Climate Change Impacts on Forestry”. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 104(2007): 1969719702.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krista, L.M.Bettinger, P., Grebner, D.L., and Hepinstall-Cymerman, J.. “Perceptions of Foresters of Wind Damage in Mississippi Forests”. Southern Journal of Applied Forestry 34(2010): 124130.Google Scholar
Landsberg, J.J. and Waring, R.H.. “A Generalised Model of Forest Productivity Using Simplified Concepts of Radiation-Use Efficiency, Carbon Balance and Partitioning”. Forest Ecology ana Management 95(1997):209228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lesage, J.P. “Discussion: Applications and Innovations in Spatial Econometrics”. Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics 43(2011): 339343.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marsinko, A.P.Straka, T.J., and Baumann, J.L.. “The Effect of Hurricane Hugo on Forest Practice Cost”. Hurricane Hugo: South Carolina Forest Land Research and Management Related to the Storm. Haymond, J., Hook, D., and Harms, W., eds. Ashville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-5, 1996.Google Scholar
McNulty, S.G. “Hurricane Impacts on US Forest Carbon Sequestration”. Environmental Pollution 116(2002):S17S24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McNulty, S.G.Myers, J.M., Caldwell, P.J., and Ge, S.. “Climate Change”. Southern Forest Futures Project: Technical Report. Wear, D.N. and Greis, J.G., eds. Asheville, NC: Southern Group of State Foresters, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-GTR-178, 2013.Google Scholar
McNulty, S.G.Vose, J.M., and Swank, W.T.. “Potential Climate Change Effects on Loblolly Pine Forest Productivity and Drainage across the Southern United States”. Ambio 25(1996): 449453.Google Scholar
Medlyn, B.E.Duursma, R.A., and Zeppel, M.J.B.. “Forest Productivity under Climate Change: a Checklist for Evaluating Model Studies”. WIREs Climate Change 2(2011):332355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Millar, C.I.Stephenson, N.L., and Stephens, S.L.. “Climate Change and Forests of the Future: Managing in the Face of Uncertainty”. Ecological Applications 17(2007):21452151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nordhaus, W.D. “The Economics of Hurricanes and Implications of Global Warming”. Climate Change Economics 1(2010): 120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parisi, F. and Lund, R.. “Return Periods of Continental U.S. Hurricanes”. Journal of Climate 21(2008):403410.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perez-Garcia, J.Joyce, L.A., McGuire, A.D., and Xiao, X.. “Impacts of Climate Change on the Global Forest Sector”. Climatic Change 54(2002): 439461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pienaar, L.V.Shiver, B.D., and Rheney, J.W.. Yield Prediction for Mechanically Site Prepared Slash Pine Plantations in the Southeastern Coastal Plain. Athens, GA: University of Georgia, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, Plantation Management Research Cooperative, Technical Report 1996-3, 1996.Google Scholar
Prestemon, J.R, and Holmes, T.P.. “Market Dynamics and Optimal Timber Salvage after a Natural Catastrophe”. Forest Science 50(2004): 495511.Google Scholar
Prestemon, J.R, and Holmes, T.P.. “Economic Impacts of Hurricanes on Forest Owners”. Advances in Threat Assessment and their Applications to Forest and Rangeland Management. Pye, J.M., Rauscher, M.H., Sands, Y., Lee, D.C., and Beatty, J.S., eds. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Pacific Northwest and Southern Research Stations, Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-0802, 2010.Google Scholar
Reed, W.J. “The Effects of the Risk on the Optimal Rotation of a Forest”. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 11(1984): 180190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sala, A.Peters, G., McIntyre, L., and Harrington, M.. “Physiological Responses of Ponderosa Pine in Western Montana to Thinning, Prescribed Fire and Burning Season”. Tree Physiology 25(2005): 339348.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schultz, , Loblolly Pine, R.P.: The Ecology and Culture of Loblolly Pine (Pinus Taeda L.). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture Handbook 713, 1997.Google Scholar
Sedjo, R. “Adaptation of Forests to Climate Change: Some Estimates”. Discussion paper 10-06. Washington, DC: Resources for the Future, January 2010.Google Scholar
Sims, C. “Influencing Natural Forest Disturbance through Timber Harvesting: Tradeoffs among Disturbance Processes, Forest Values, and Timber Condition”. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 95(2013):9921008.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, W.Miles, P.D., Perry, C.H., and Pugh, S.A.. Forest Resources of the United States, 2007. St. Paul, MN: U.S. Departmen of Agriculture, Forest Service Gen. Tech Rep. WO-GTR-78, 2009.Google Scholar
Sohngen, B.Alig, R.J., and Solberg, B.. “The Forest Sector, Climate Change, and the Global Carbon Cycle: Environmental and Economic Implications”. Economic Modelling of Effects of Climate Change on the Forest Sector and Mitigation Options: A Compendium of Briefing Papers. Alig, R.J., tech. coord. Corwallis, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Gen. Tech. Rep. GTR-833, 2010.Google Scholar
Stainback, G.A. and Alavalapati, J.R.R.. “Modeling Disturbance Risk in Economic Analysis of Forest Carbon Sequestration”. Natural Resource Modeling 17(2004):299317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanturf, J.A.Goodrick, L., and Outcalt, K.W.. “Disturbance and Coastal Forests: A Strategic Approach to Forest Management in Hurricane Impact Zones”. Forest Ecology and Management 250(2007): 119135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stephens, S.L.Collins, B.M., and Roller, G.. “Fuel Treatment Longevity in a Sierra Nevada Mixed Conifer Forest”. Forest Ecology and Management 285(2012):204212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Susaeta, A.Alavalapati, J.R.R., and Carter, D.. “Modeling Impacts of Bioenergy Markets on Nonindustrial Private Forest Management in the Southeastern United States”. Natural Resource Modeling 22(2009): 345369.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teskey, R.O. “Combined Effects of Elevated CO2 and Air Temperature on Carbon Assimilation of Pinus Taeda Trees”. Plant, Cell & Environment 20(1997):373380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teskey, R.O. Personal communication. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, June 2012.Google Scholar
Mart-South, Timber. Annual Timber Prices 2012. Athens, GA: University of Georgia, 2013.Google Scholar
Wang, W.Qu, J.J., Hao, X., Liu, Y., and Stanturf, J.A.. “Post-Hurricane Forest Damage Assessment Using Satellite Remote Sensing”. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 150(2010): 122132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wertin, T.M.McGuire, M.A., and Teskey, R.O.. “The Influence of Elevated Temperature, Elevated Atmospheric CO2 Concentration and Water Stress on Net Photosynthesis of Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda L.) at Northern, Central and Southern Sites in Its Native Range”. Global Change Biology 16(2010):20892103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wertin, T.M.McGuire, M.A., and Teskey, R.O.. “Effects of Predicted Future and Current Atmospheric Temperature and [CO2] and High and Low Soil Moisture on Gas Exchange and Growth of Pinus taeda Seedlings at Cool and Warm Sites in the Species Range”. Tree Physiology 32(2012):847858.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, E.M.Alig, R.J., and Haight, R.G.. “The Forest Sector in a Climate-Changed Environment”. Economic Modelling of Effects of Climate Change on the Forest Sector and Mitigation Options: A Compendium of Briefing Papers. Alig, R.J., tech. coord. Corwallis, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Gen. Tech. Rep. GTR-833, 2010.Google Scholar